The Hammer Rises Old (and shit) version
by BetrayersFear
Summary: With the arrival of a new pilot Shinji and Asuka find another friend, and Rei begins to feels her emotions at full strength for the first time only to feel the pain of rejection and loss. OC, OOC, and AU later on. If you didn't get it from the title I'm rewriting this significantly differently but read this if you want...just don't expect it to be good
1. Chapter 1

So yeah first fic I'm actually putting up so yeah there will probably be a lot of mistakes so point them out if you notice one and yeah constructive criticism is always welcome.

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James walked quietly beside Ritsuko Akagi, the doctor who had examined him upon his arrival. After walking for about five minutes she tried to start up a conversation as they always did.  
"So are you enjoying Japan so far?"  
"Uhh...yeah." James replied slowly  
"Well I'm sure you'll come to like it as much as we do."  
"Ok." James didn't really like talking to people and she seemed to realise this as she didn't talk anymore after that.

After another ten minutes an alarm sounded which caused Ritsuko to look up in alarm before running off. James ran after her figuring he had nothing better to do. She stopped in what looked like a massive control room sporting technology the likes of which James had never seen before. He looked around as he walked completely into the room noting all the people who all seemed to be yelling at each other. As he followed Ritsuko a rather young looking woman seated at a console noticed him but looked away when he turned his head to look at her. When Ritsuko stopped he realised she was looking at a large screen which seemed to show part of the countryside around the city. He watched as a giant figure he knew was an Evangelion quickly took down two others. Even though he'd had about a year and a half to learn Japanese the language baffled him and he had been slow to learn so the rapid-fire yelling that was going on around him primarily went over his head and he only understood the odd word here and there. He watched as the Eva walked towards what seemed to be the last of the Eva arranged against it. The fight seemed to be going badly for the Unit-01, as he had learned it was called, as the rogue Eva had its throat firmly in its grip but for some reason it wasn't fighting back.  
"If you don't fight back then you'll die" He heard someone yell over the general din.  
"I don't care that will be better than killing someone." The pilot of the losing Eva yelled  
James clenched his fists at that, people he'd known and cared for had died because of someone refusing to kill another person. While he was controlling himself again something had been decided as he heard the words "Dummy plug" moments before Unit-01's fist went smashing into the side of the rogue Eva before kicking it away. The fight was over very quickly after that with Unit-01 completely destroying the enemy Eva.

Someone had finally noticed that James had been somewhere he shouldn't so he was rushed out of the control room and made to wait until someone had come to take him to his new home, apparently he was going to be living with two of the other three Eva pilots. While he was being driven there he wondered why they didn't all live together but he didn't ponder it long instead choosing to study the driver and his fellow passengers. The small boy sitting across from him in the back seat looked down for the entire way and James quickly lost interest in him and chose instead to study the two people in the front, the driver was the most beautiful woman James had ever seen with long purple hair and a lush full figure that took James a long few minutes to look away from, he couldn't see the girl in front of him very well but from the glances he'd managed to sneak in while they were walking to the car he knew that she was quite beautiful as well if not quite as much as the purple haired driver. After a short drive which James thoroughly enjoyed by memorising every part of the two girls that he could see they stopped at a long thoroughly boring looking building where everyone got out. Grabbing his single bag he followed in the slow footsteps of the other three. When they walked in the front door everyone went their separate ways leaving James standing very confusedly in the entryway. After about 30 seconds the purple haired woman walked through a door holding a can and rubbing her temples. Noticing James she jumped before realising who he was and why he was still standing there.  
"I'm sorry, I completely forgot you're going to be living with me, after everything that happened today-"  
"It's ok" James said but the woman just kept talking  
"-oh wait we haven't even met yet my names is Misato Katsuragi but just call me Misato."  
"Ok." James was a little off balance from the speed of Misato's words as well as how nice her voice sounded.  
"I already know your name but you'll have to introduce yourself to Shinji and Asuka at dinner." Misato's bright voice was causing James's brain to work about seven times slower than normal so it took him a few seconds to reply.  
"Ok."  
Misato smiled at James causing him to smile stupidly back.  
"Let me show you were you will be sleeping." With that Misato turned around with James following her in the type of daze where he would have followed her off a cliff without a second thought.

They walked into the room James was going to share with Shinji to find him curled up on his bed listening to music, Misato's cheerful facade dropped for a second before she turned back to James  
"Well this is it." She said with a smile "There's a spare futon in the cupboard."  
"Ok...thank you."  
Misato left with a smile which dropped back into a frown as soon as she closed the door.

James turned back to the room and sighed at the massive pile of boxes stacked in front of the only cupboard in the room. After about 10 minutes moving boxes he finally opened the cupboard to find the spare "futon" was little more than a slightly thick rug, sighing James took it out and turned to find that after moving all the boxes there was now not enough space to set up his bed. Sighing yet again he rested the futon up against a wall and started moving boxes until there was a space in a corner big enough for him to set up the futon and place his bag at the foot of it. He sat down heavily and leant his head back against the wall before noticing Shinji was looking at him.  
"Hello." Shinji said quietly trying not to stare at the large dangerous looking boy sitting in the corner  
"Hey...you don't mind if I sleep here?"  
"Uh... no, no it's fine."  
"Cool...so...I'm gonna go have a shower now...I suppose...yeah" James got up quickly and grabbed a pair of jeans and a T-shirt from his bag  
"Umm...do you want to hang up the rest of your clothes?" Shinji asked suddenly  
"Uhh yeah suppose I should." James pulled the rest of his clothes out of his bag, 1 more pair of jeans and another 2 shirts as well as a couple pairs of socks and another pair of shoes which he shoved back into his bag. Hanging everything off a couple coat hangers on Shinji's clothes rack he walked to the door before turning  
"Thank you Shinji."  
"You're welcome...oh wait what's your name?" Shinji yelled after him  
James popped his head back around the door "...James."  
"James." Shinji murmured to himself.

James walked towards the bathroom he'd gotten a glance of when Misato was showing him to his room. He was about to open the door when it was opened from the other side by Asuka who was dressed in only a towel. James stood staring for a good 15 seconds before a sharp slap snapped him out his nirvana.  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Asuka yelled at him.  
"I...I'm sorry...you surprised me...and...I'm not used to other people." James mumbled while looking down and to the side trying not to make her any angrier.  
"Hmmph...I suppose I should be flattered that you stared for so long." She said before walking past him and into her room while James just stared after her ridiculously confused...and also taking a last chance to look at Asuka.  
"What happened?" Shinji asked poking his head around his door but James just walked into the bathroom without answering.

Walking out the bathroom drying his short hair James glanced quickly into the kitchen to see Asuka and Shinji standing quite close together seemingly talking about something. Shrugging James walked to his room hang up his towel and chuck the shirt he was still too hot from the shower to put on onto his "bed" before walking back to the kitchen to grab a drink only to stop frozen in the doorway as Asuka and Shinji were standing in the middle of the room kissing. James had to choke back a laugh as he noticed that Asuka was holding Shinji's nose closed for some reason, he also noticed that Shinji had no idea what to do as he was just standing there with his arms by his side. Walking up behind Asuka James grabbed Shinji's hand and winking at him placed one on Asuka's hip and the other on the back of her head before stealthily walking back to the door. Looking back he saw Asuka press herself closer to Shinji and let go of his nose to slide her hands onto his back before slowly breaking the kiss.  
"Shinji...I...I" She began before James burst out laughing at the stunned expression on Shinji's face. He was laughing so hard he didn't notice Asuka storming up to him until she grabbed his head lifted it up and slapped him hard across the face before running to her room. James looked up to see Shinji confusedly nursing the side of his face after receiving the same treatment. James chuckled one last time before walking back to his room.

About half an hour later Shinji poked his head around the corner to say that dinner was ready. James stood up eagerly as he hadn't eaten yet that day. Walking out the room he forgot to throw his shirt on before walking to the kitchen where everyone else was already gathered. When Asuka saw him she sniffed and looked away until he sat and had been given his share by Shinji.  
"So what's with your stupid scars?" She asked him just after he'd shoved half the contents of his plate into his mouth. After he'd finished chewing and swallowing he replied with  
"My scars aren't stupid."  
"Well then obviously you are to let yourself get them."  
"I didn't exactly choose to get shot..."  
"I was talking about the ones on your face." Asuka said calmly which caused James to sit straight up as if he'd been insulted in the worst way possible  
"These scars mark me as a full member and warrior of the Broken Sun...I wouldn't trade them for anything,I would rather die than lose these scars, the days I received them are the proudest of my life." With that he stood up and walked away from the table leaving Shinji and Misato uneasy and Asuka mortified and also slightly terrified as when James had walked away she had had a direct view of the three bullet wounds in his torso as well as the long scar down the right side of his back.

James gripped the sink hard his knuckles white under the pressure, his scars turning white as he clenched his jaw in an effort to not yell and strike out. After awhile he calmed down enough to remove his hands from the sink. Studying his scars he remembered the reason behind all of them. two slits parallel to his nose to show his initiation into the warrior training, two more slits to mark his first foray into battle, the blood was still wet on his cheeks when he'd killed his first man, and a final pair starting above his eyes curling around and underneath before following the line of his cheek bones down to his jaw to meet in a small point on his chin. Sighing he straightened up and opened the door to find a somewhat scared looking Asuka  
"I-I'm sorry...I didn't know they were important."  
James tried to stay angry but the puppy dog eyes she was giving him were heart rending so eventually he just dropped to one knee to stop intimidating her with his height  
"It's ok Asuka...You couldn't have known." James smiled at her reassuringly which seemed to relax her immensely as she smiled back before walking to her room. Getting up wearily James rubbed the back of his neck before realising he still wasn't wearing a shirt.


	2. Chapter 2

So yeah second chapter sorry it's so short I'll probably release each chapter as one day in story time so depending how much stuff happens some will be longer

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The next morning James woke up and sat up scratching the deep bullet scars on his left shoulder and yawning widely. Climbing out of bed slowly he noticed Shinji was already awake and out of the room given his lack of presence. James left the room dreary eyed and yawning. He walked into the kitchen to find everyone already sitting there, Shinji and Asuka eating toast and Misato lounging comfortably with a beer in her hand.

"Good morning." James said while yawning deeply and scratching his head. It took him five seconds of wondering why everyone was looking at him weird before he realised he'd spoken in Afrikaans.  
"Good morning." He repeated making sure to say it in Japanese  
"What did you say first?" Asuka glared at him suspiciously.  
"Uhhh...Good morning...just...in Afrikaans..." James busied himself eating the toast Shinji had placed in front of him.  
"What is...Afrikaans?" Even though he tried for several seconds Shinji still garbled the unfamiliar word pretty badly.  
"It's one of the languages in South Africa...I grew up speaking it." James replied. By that time James had finished eating and was the only one who had yet to have a shower given his slower start but as he got up he heard Asuka whisper to Misato  
"Sounds like a stupid language to me...German is much better." Hearing that James turned and with perfect pronunciation said  
"Guten Morgen Asuka." Before walking to the bathroom chuckling at the face Asuka had pulled.

Once James had dressed in loose fitting faded black jeans and a simple black t-shirt and had received a tongue lashing from Asuka over his fashion sense or lack thereof they all walked down to the car so that James could get more acquainted with NERV while Shinji and Asuka did some more tests. Just before Misato got in the car her phone rang and she answered it while gesturing for the children to get in the car. After a short wait in which Asuka swore at James in German to see if he knew the words. She'd just finished yelling a particularly coarse set of curses when Misato got in the car.  
"Well James it seems your Eva arrived earlier than expected."  
"Shut the fuck up you stupid piece of shi-wait what? My Eva is here?" James leaned forward excitedly.  
"Yup, arrived early this morning. It seems as if you'll be doing some tests today as well."  
James leaned back smiling before continuing  
"...Shit, I will kick your ass you dumb bitch you're lucky we're in such a confined space or I'd have you on the ground grovelling at my feet." The glare Asuka sent his way would have had him quivering if he'd seen it.

Arriving at NERV they immediately headed to the Eva bays to see James's Eva. Everyone but James gasped when they first saw the colossal black and red figure. Standing just taller than any of the other Eva's at 45 metres it was a truly imposing sight. Even though it was only slightly taller than the other Eva's it was at least two and a half times bigger thanks to everything but the head being bigger and heavier. Its torso was twice the width with massive armour plates while its arms and legs were closer to three times larger with newly designed stability and recoil control enhancers. All this was said by an excited James as they walked towards Ritsuko.  
"Ah Misato I see you decided to bring James today."  
"Yeah I had thought he could get more acquainted with NERV but now that Unit-05 is here we can do some testing."  
"Mächtige Zuschlag." James said absentmindedly.  
"Pardon?" Ritsuko asked confusedly  
"Her name is Mächtige Zuschlag."  
"We were wondering what that was." Ritsuko said looking up at Mächtige Zuschlag where those same words were painted in neat square script across the right hand side of the torso.  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Asuka demanded angrily. James sighed before turning to Asuka  
"My Eva's name is Mächtige Zuschlag."  
"Mächtige Zuschlag? That's...really stupid...why the hell did you name your Eva?" Asuka yelled at him.  
"Because I wanted to and the people who built him thought it was cool." James said defensively not understanding why Asuka was getting angry. Before Asuka could say anything else Ritsuko quickly cut in  
"Well now that you're here we can do some start up testing on the Eva and its prototype engine."  
"Prototype engine?" Shinji asked quietly  
"It's another prototype of the S2 engine." Ritsuko explained  
"Wait didn't the prototype engine in Unit-04 sort of...explode?" Asuka demanded angrily  
"Yes but that was built by the Americans, this one is built by Germans."  
"Oh...well I suppose it has less chance of killing us all then."  
"Well let's hope so." Misato said dryly.

A few minutes later James walked out of the locker room in a black and red plug suit exactly matching the dark colours of his Eva. Asuka had never noticed how ripped and toned James was until then as every time she'd seen his torso not hidden by a loose fitting shirt she'd been distracted by his scars or too busy yelling at him to notice but now that he was wearing a tight plug suit she could clearly see the muscle definition underneath. She quickly looked away as James turned his head to look at her before climbing into the plug.

Once James had been loaded into Mächtige Zuschlag Ritsuko ordered the plug to be filled with LCL. James stayed calm as the plug filled with the orange liquid but it took him several long seconds to force himself to breathe in. Once he was situated the testing began. James sat quietly throughout it all answering any questions with simple yes or no answers.  
"Ok James, try to move it now and we'll see how responsive it is." Ritsuko told him  
"Her." James said as he lifted the massive arms up and into a basic fighting stance before performing few slow air punches.  
"Good, try walking it...her now."  
"Ok." James said calmly as one massive leg lifted and moved forward the action deliberately slow and careful. As James repeated the slow process Asuka spoke up  
"You know you'll have to move faster than that if you wanna get anywhere."  
"Yes, this is my first time Asuka so I'm taking everything slowly."  
"Well I went faster my first test." Asuka replied smugly  
"Well that must mean you're a better pilot than me then." James said as he lifted the leg in a huge roundhouse kick before executing several fast paced punches. Misato had to choke back a laugh at the look on Asuka's face.  
"Good James you seem to be a natural." Ritsuko said impressed  
"I dunno it just seems...yeah...natural."  
"Well we're done for now so please place Unit... Mächtige Zuschlag back onto the platform."  
As James slowly placed the huge Eva back onto the platform it had started on Asuka stormed out the room.

James had just put his jeans back on when Asuka stormed into the locker room.  
"How the hell did you do that you idiot...I bet you lied and that wasn't actually your first time." Asuka screamed at him. James turned to face her, his scarred face livid with anger.  
"I don't lie Asuka."  
"Then how the hell did you do that?" Asuka yelled.  
"I don't know...after walking it just...felt right...so I tried something a little harder and just so you know...I almost fell over after the kick...that's the only reason I did those punches at the end...I was actually trying to regain my balance...so you're still a better pilot then me." With that said James pulled his shirt on and left. Asuka glared after him for awhile before leaving to go home.

The ride home was especially tense as Shinji had gotten in the front seat leaving James and Asuka staring daggers at each other across the back seat. Once they were home Asuka got out quickly and hurried to her room while James walked more slowly than normal to make sure he didn't catch up with her not really in the mood to inadvertently start another conflict. Instead he walked to the kitchen and made tea for everyone except for Misato, he just grabbed a beer for her. Walking to give Shinji his tea he rubbed his temples with his free hand.  
"Hey Shinji." He said as he spotted him watching TV in the lounge.  
"Hello James...Did you make tea?" Shinji smiled a bit puzzled  
"Yeah I uhh I like tea..." James said looking down at his feet.  
"Oh well thank you." Shinji said as James handed the cup to him  
"I hope I made it how you like I kinda forgot to ask" James sad awkwardly. Shinji took a sip and smiled before nodding at James. James smiled back before turning to find Misato and give her a beer.

James knocked quietly on Asuka's door  
"WHAT?!" She yelled from the other side  
"Uhh I... I made you some tea...if you don't want it I can..." James was cut off as the door slid open violently. Asuka glared at him suspiciously before saying  
"Why?"  
"Well I...I wanted to say sorry for making you angry." James looked down at his feet blushing while he said this.  
"Oh umm ok..." Asuka took the cup from his fingers and took a sip.  
"I hope I made it how you like it but I forgot to ask and..."  
"Needs more sugar." Asuka interrupted him.  
"I'm sorry I'll just go get..."  
"No, it's ok I'll get it." Asuka interrupted him again before walking to the kitchen smiling slightly before she caught herself and scowled at Shinji who had just walked around the corner.

James stood at Asuka's door for a few more seconds before sighing and walking into his room to do push ups until his arms collapsed beneath him. Then he slept.


	3. Chapter 3

So chapter 3. I'm enjoying writing this and hopefully whoever reads this enjoys it to. This is goes more into the romance but Chapter 4 should have some action. Also please don't hate me for shipping Asuka and my OC I have a friend who told me not to but yeah the way I've been writing it's just how it ended up but hopefully i can make it work.

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Waking up on the floor James shook his head groggily before pushing himself up on arms that could barely support him. Sitting with his arms resting on his knees he looked up to see Shinji standing in the doorway wearing a school uniform.

"It's Monday isn't it?" James asked wearily  
"Yeah...your uniform is on the rack." James turned and looked behind him at Shinji's words noticing the pants and button up shirt hung up on coat hangers. Standing up he walked over and examined the clothing. Turning to face Shinji again he help up a shirt at least 2 sizes too small for him  
"Ummm...I don't think this is gonna work."  
"Oh sorry that's one of mine I must have put it there accidentally." As he was saying this Shinji walked into the room and picked up a bag resting against one wall.  
"Here is yours." He said holding up a much more appropriately sized shirt for James  
"Thank you." James said before grabbing the shirt and his pants and moving to have a shower.

Walking out the shower fully dressed for once James almost walked into Asuka who glared at him before walking off. James stared after her scratching his head confusedly before moving to the kitchen to find something to eat. He found Shinji eating toast with another plateful set next to him  
"Is that for me?" James asked  
"Yes." Shinji said smiling at him  
"Awesome thank you" James said smiling back before sitting down and demolishing the food in front of him. Shinji was staring at him as he sat back somewhat disappointed that there was none left.  
"Wow...you must really like toast."  
"Haha no it's not that I just like to eat and almost anything will do" James said with a grin.  
"You'll get fat if you eat too much idiot." Asuka said from the doorway  
"James turned his torso to look at her  
"I doubt that." He said casually  
"Why you immune to gaining weight or something...idiot."  
"No I just exercise too much." James said turning completely to face Asuka so she could see that he was in fact well muscled before turning to help Shinji clean up. Asuka just scoffed and walked away.

On their way to school Shinji struck up a conversation.  
"How...how do you interact with Asuka so easily?" He asked nervously  
"Huh? What do you mean?" James asked not understanding  
"Well like just earlier when you were spoke back to her like that I could never do that." Shinji looked down embarrassed  
"Oh that well...I don't actually know I just say and do what I want around her just like everyone else." James said thoughtfully  
"But aren't you afraid she'll hit you?" Shinji was curious now as he lived in constant fear of Asuka striking out at him.  
"Well she has hit me like after that kiss you two had but she can't really hurt me so I guess I'm not afraid of her hitting me." Shinji blushed at the mention of the kiss but asked his newest question  
"She really can't hurt you? Cause she hurts Me."  
"Haha well she can hurt me if she hits me in a certain area which I'm sure you understand but other than that no...Once you've been shot a lot of other pains aren't that bad anymore, and I've been fighting since I was eight so I reckon my body is fairly tough now anyway."  
"Since you were eight? Really?" Shinji asked with wonderment in his voice  
"Yeah the tribe I was in started training warriors early so that we were better than everyone else so we lost less people. Started training at six, that's when I got these." James said pointing at the first set of scars closest to his nose  
"Started actual fighting training at eight, before that was just conditioning, got my second set of scars at ten just before I went on my first raid, That's all it is over there just everyone raiding each other for the tiny amounts of resources, but yeah got these last ones at twelve, meant I was a full warrior of the tribe...proudest day of my life." James realised he'd been rambling and immediately shut up but Shinji was looking at him with something approaching awe in his eyes  
"Wait...your tribe was called the Broken Sun right?" Shinji asked suddenly  
"Uhh yeah how did you know?"  
"When Asuka asked about your scars you said something about the Broken Sun so..."  
"Oh yeah I remember now...yeah we were the most feared tribe in all of South Africa no one dared to attack us...except the UN." James said sadly his head slowly lowering as he spoke till he was looking at the ground.  
"The UN attacked you?" Shinji asked incredulously  
"Yeah in their report they "rescued" me but it was closer to a kidnapping than that." James clenched his fists in anger remembering the "rescue mission".  
"We had no warning...I was sleeping and only woke up when they started shooting...we were outnumbered and surprised...we didn't stand a chance...I remember standing in the middle of our camp my rifle in my hands...just shooting any bastard stupid enough to show his face...apparently I killed 15 of them before they got a sniper to shoot me in the shoulder...took two shots as you've seen and yeah they "rescued" me by tying me up and shoving me into the back of a truck." James wiped away angry tears before turning his tear streaked face towards a stunned Shinji  
"Sorry just... not exactly a good feeling remembering it all." James said smiling sadly. An overwhelmed Shinji could only stare at him as he continued walking out of habit. This all ended however when he walked straight into a pole causing a still red eyed James to burst out laughing as Shinji rubbed his nose. James was laughing so hard he couldn't stay standing and eventually ended up lying on his side hitting the ground as tears ran down his face. Shinji looked at him annoyed as James slowly regained control wiping tears from his eyes for the second time in less than five minutes.  
"I'm sorry but that was hilarious...I needed a good laugh." James said still chuckling  
"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Shinji said still rubbing his nose. James just grinned at him before picking himself up off the ground.  
"Anyway we should probably keep going, I don't really wanna be late for my first day of school."  
"Yeah."

Just before walking into his new classroom James paused to calm himself as he was uncharacteristically nervous about school. Steeling himself he walked through the door after an oblivious Shinji to find himself the subject of about 20 staring sets of eyes. Doing his best to ignore them James made his way to the seat Shinji was gesturing to for him. As he walked towards it everyone turned in their seats to stare at him. His relative largeness and scarred face intimidating them all. Sitting down quietly he prepared himself for his first ever day of school. He managed ok until they came to maths where all he could do was stare at the problems in front of him wondering what the hell they meant. Sitting quietly he didn't notice Asuka leaning over to pass him a note until she tapped him on the shoulder before pointing to the slip of paper on his desk. James picked it up and slid it under his desk to read it without anyone noticing.  
"Why aren't you doing your work?" James winced as he realised that he hadn't quite escaped notice. Grabbing his pen he quickly wrote down  
"Because I don't know what any of it means." James looked up to make sure the teacher was looking away before passing the note back. Asuka looked at him surprised before writing something else down but the bell rang before she could pass it to him. James sat and waited for everyone else to leave before he stood up but it still took him a couple seconds to realise Asuka was still there as well.  
"Do you really not know what these mean?" She said while pointing to the markings on his sheet  
"Well it's not like anyone has ever taught me to read." James said a little embarrassed  
"You can't read either?" Asuka sounded incredulous  
"Well no I've never needed to and no one has bothered to teach me." James was looking down and scuffing his feet really embarrassed now  
"Well then I'm going to teach you." Asuka surprised herself when she blurted that out and James even more so.  
"Really?" James was a little incredulous  
"Yes." Asuka said firmly, a little confused as to why but still sure that she wanted to help him learn to read. James entire face flamed red as he stared hard at his shoes and scuffed his shoe on the ground.  
"Tha...thank you...Asuka." James managed to summon the courage to look up and smile at her. When she smiled back James could have sworn he was having a heart attack but he didn't care.

Shinji noticed that James was significantly happier on the walk home from school as they chatted about meaningless things. Eventually Shinji asked  
"So how was your first day of school?"  
"Well it wasn't too bad even though most of the time I didn't know what I was meant to be doing."  
"You mean you couldn't do your work?" Shinji was curious now  
"Well...no...No I couldn't." James was still a little embarrassed about it  
"Why not?" Shinji asked curiously as James had seemed quite confident in everything he'd done before that.  
"I...can't read..." James looked away as he Shinji stared at him incredulously  
"Really?"  
"Really."  
"Oh well I can help you to learn if you want." Shinji said with a smile  
"Its ok Asuka already said she would." James replied  
"WHAT?" Shinji practically yelled  
"That was basically my reaction." James chuckled  
"I don't know why she did...She noticed that I wasn't doing any work and asked me about it and then when I told her I can't read...She told me she would teach me and I'm not about to argue with someone offering to help me."  
"Oh..." Shinji was still a little stunned  
"Haha yeah well I wouldn't be surprised if she forgets about it. So I might have to take you up on your offer." James said this with a grin.

After they'd gotten home and dumped their school bags in their room James and Shinji stood around not really knowing what to do.  
"So umm...I'm gonna have an early shower to get it out of the way" James said pointing over his shoulder at the bathroom door.  
"Oh ok well I'll be watching TV...or preparing dinner."  
James grabbed a towel and a change of clothes before walking back to the bathroom. As soon as he closed the door he sighed and rubbed his temples before stretching his back.  
"Why do I try so hard?" he mumbled to himself as he turned the water on for the shower. Stepping under the steaming streams of water he sighed luxuriously.  
"The shower is truly mankind's greatest invention." he thought to himself. After scrubbing himself clean he stood with his head hanging down letting the heat and pressure ease the tension in his shoulders. Standing there he felt the first of the tears join the water already running down his face.  
"I just wanna go back...be back with my brothers and my sisters...I don't wanna be here...I'm scared...I'm scared I'll do something wrong...I'm scared I'll lose the one thing I've gained...I'm scared...I'm scared...I don't wanna be scared." With that last thought James snarled and pulled his fist back before slamming it into the wall. He dropped his bleeding fist to his side before sliding down into a sitting position sobbing until he had no more tears. Wiping his eyes James stood back up cleaned his bloody knuckles before glancing ruefully at the hole in the wall his fist had made. Stepping out the shower he dried himself before wrapping his hand with bandages from the first aid kit. Getting dressed he tried to think of a reason to explain the hold he'd made and came up blank. Walking out the door he saw Misato standing there.  
"I heard a noise...what was it?"  
"Uhh I might've possibly maybe punched a hole in the wall..." James was staring at his feet again.  
"What why?" Misato asked alarmed  
"Just...because." Misato sighed at that but waved it off  
"Fine whatever but you're paying to fix it." She said in an attempt to be stern.  
"Ok." James mumbled before walking to his room.

When Asuka eventually arrived home after going to the mall with friends she found everyone in a rather subdued mood. Even Misato had only drunk three beers. Frowning she walked to Shinji and James's room to find James for his first reading lesson. When she opened the door the only sound that came out of her mouth was a soft  
"Oh..." James shirt was clinging to his sweaty back as he pulled his body up again lifting his chin above the bar he was holding onto. Asuka could only stare as he dropped to the ground to take off his shirt. Now shirtless he hopped up to grab the bar again before continuing to lift himself again and again. After about five minutes Asuka had eventually decided to say something but as James was struggling to lift himself him up with trembling arms his fingers slipped and he fell to the ground hard. Asuka jumped when he fell to the floor his breath shaky as his arms trembled where they lay.  
"J...James?" She asked cautiously. James looked up to see her but let his head fall back to the ground hard.  
"I'm sorry." He said tiredly.  
"Why are you sorry?" Asuka asked concernedly  
"I don't know..."  
"Well you shouldn't be." She said as she walked into the room to help James into a sitting position. James rested his head on his knees while his arms hung limply at his sides.  
"Thank you." He said as Asuka grabbed some pens and paper before returning to his side.  
"What is that for?" He asked confused as Asuka wrote something on the paper.  
"Your first reading lesson." Asuka replied  
"We're doing that now?" James asked incredulously  
"Yes."  
"But..."  
"No buts you said you wanted to learn and if I'm gonna teach you then you're learning when I want you to." James just sighed and shifted around so he could see what Asuka was writing.

The several hour long lesson was interrupted only by a move to the kitchen prompted by Shinji complaining about sleeping with Asuka in the room. As James was repeatedly copying down the Hiragana alphabet, Asuka was a strong believer in learning by repetition, he looked up to see her sleeping with her head resting on the table. Smiling he was about to wake her up so that she could go to bed when she mumbled something and shifted suddenly. James only just managed to catch her before she hit the floor.  
"Huh...James what are you doing?" She mumbled sleepily in German  
"I think you need to sleep now." James replied also in German  
"Yeah..." Asuka fell asleep again her head falling against James's chest. James sighed and picked up her slight frame  
"You're lucky you're so light Asuka or I wouldn't be able to carry you with my arms as tired as they are." James said teasingly. Asuka just shifted in her sleep pressing her face into James's shoulder. Walking to her room he pushed the door open with his foot before walking inside and placing her gently onto her bed. James stood up slowly, he walked into his room truly happy for the first time in a while.


	4. Chapter 4

Got my first review today :D. 29 words and the highlight of my week :P hopefully this chapter is as good as the others but I'm a little worried about it so if you have issues with anything please tell me and ill do my best to fix it. And also for the reviewer i put a little bit of angst but their should be a lot more next chapter

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The next few days passed uneventfully minus one event when Asuka had caught James staring at her again. He was slowly making progress in reading and writing but Asuka still found vast amounts of amusement making him write sentences he would normally never say let alone write down.

On the seventh day since James's arrival they were called into NERV for unexplained reasons. Heading straight there from school James and Shinji talked about what they might be doing once they got there.  
"Probably just more tests again." Shinji suggested  
"I dunno they'd tell us about that wouldn't they." James replied  
"Yeah you're right, I wonder what it is." Shinji said curiously  
"Maybe actual piloting training because I know that at least I need more practice." James theorised  
"It might be that but I don't know why they wouldn't tell us." Shinji said  
"Why don't you to idiots just shut up and wait till we get there." Asuka cut in suddenly. Neither James nor Shinji could come up with an argument against that. Arriving at NERV they moved quickly to the Eva cages to find Unit-02 and Mächtige Zuschlag prepped and ready to go. Ritsuko turned from examining something on a computer when they approached.  
"Hello you three." She said  
"Hello." Shinji replied first  
"Hey." Followed by Asuka  
"Hello." And lastly James who accompanied his greeting with a lazy wave of his hand.  
Ritsuko glanced quickly back at the screen before nodding to herself and turning back to the kids.  
"You were called her today because we need to do some weapons testing on Mächtige Zuschlag." Ritsuko said looking up at the imposing Eva  
James's eyes lit up and his smile broadened  
"Weapons testing? Which ones did they send? Did they send all of them?" He was practically jumping in place with excitement. Ritsuko smiled amused  
"Just the ones labelled Dreizack and Weltenbrechers." She said looking down at the pad in her hands  
"Ah good my favourites. They didn't send Gräuel?" James asked hopefully  
"No just the two." Ritsuko said  
"Abomination? What the hell is that?" Asuka asked suddenly  
"Oh it's basically a huge lump of steel on a stick." James said with a grin  
"Enough talk you two go get changed into your plug suits. We need to get this done." Ritsuko cut in before Asuka could reply.  
"What about me?" Shinji spoke up suddenly. Ritsuko smiled sadly at him  
"Your father has forbidden you from piloting except in emergencies due to your actions."  
"Oh..." Shinji looked crestfallen. James cringed.  
"Ouch that sucks man. Don't worry though I'm sure it won't be for long."  
"Yeah..." Shinji looked down at his feet. James looked at him for a bit longer before turning to go get changed. Walking back together they were both shooting quick glances at each other in their form fitting plug suits. Once they had reported back to Ritsuko they moved off to their respective Eva's. Just before they were out of earshot James heard  
"Have fun you two..." Shinji's voice was so heavy with sarcasm it could almost be cut into blocks and sold in bulk. James turned to look at him confusedly but Shinji had already looked away.

Once they were both set and ready in their Eva's Ritsuko ordered Mächtige Zuschlag released so that they could fit the massive guns to her arms. Mächtige Zuschlag was designed as a mobile weapons platform so not only could it use any of the standard Eva weapons it had specially designed "wearable" weapons which fit around its arms which allowed for much more powerful guns. Dreizack was set first, a triple barrelled machinegun firing bullets slightly bigger than a standard Pallet Rifle; these bullets were fed to the gun by a belt mechanism which connected to the massive ammo box that could be fitted to Mächtige Zuschlag's back. Once Dreizack was set James moved his arm to test its full range of motion. With everything moving and working as it should Weltenbrechers was also placed, an auto cannon firing huge bullets capable of separating the top and bottom halves of an Eva. James chuckled to himself as he lifted both arms up in front of him, his specially designed Eva holding the weight of both guns and the massive boxes of ammo attached to its back.  
"Ok now we're heading out to a..." Ritsuko was interrupted by the alarm signalling an Angel had been spotted.  
"Ok never mind you two stay there, Shinji go get into your plug suit." As Shinji ran off Ritsuko received a call. Once she was done she spoke to James and Asuka again.  
"The Angel is far too close to fight it out there so you two are going to engage it in the Geofront."  
"In the Geofront?" Asuka yelled "How did it get that close?"  
"We don't know but it's here now so that's how we're doing it...get ready." Asuka and James moved off to take up positions.

Asuka had about 20 guns stuck barrel first into the ground around here while James only had Dreizack and Weltenbrechers. They both heard the muffled boom of 18 layers of armour being destroyed. Asuka picked up a pair of Pallet Rifles while James lifted his arms. The next explosion wasn't muffled at all as it swept through the Geofront. James gritted his teeth as the dust cleared. The Angel fell through the hole quickly coming under fire almost immediately. Asuka's Pallet Rifles ran out of ammo quickly forcing her to drop them and pick up the hand held rocket launchers that where next in line. James growled as the Angel took all of the copious amounts of firepower on its AT field. Suddenly a thin flat "arm" shot forward and separated Unit-02 from one of its arms by the shoulder. Asuka screamed and her Eva dropped to its knees. It took James a few seconds to react to this turn of events in which time Unit-02 lost its other arm. Hearing Asuka scream again James turned ponderously the boxes on his back slowing him down. Growling James disengaged the clamps holding the guns and ammo boxes letting them drop to the ground. James started running even before they hit the ground the huge legs of Mächtige Zuschlag digging great troughs in the ground as she accelerated. Seeing the Angel prepare to throw its arm out again James dived and tackled Unit-02 out of the way just in time. The arm shot past almost hitting Mächtige Zuschlag's in the leg but missing by inches. James stood up and turned to face the Angel again only to notice Unit-00 missing an arm and holding something in the other running towards it. James couldn't understand what it was doing but didn't have much time to wonder as he heard Misato's voice yelling at him from the cockpit of his Eva.  
"James, get Asuka out of their there's nothing more you can do."  
James turned and picked up the limp and armless Eva before running back towards the Eva cages. As he was running he heard an explosion and moments later got hit by a shockwave powerful enough to make him stumble and almost fall. Only just regaining his balance James kept running his only focus getting Asuka out of immediate danger. Arriving at the Eva cages he placed Unit-02 into the clamps that would hold it in place. He waited as they ejected Asuka's plug and breathed a sigh of relief as she climbed out shakily. Suddenly remembering what was happening behind him he turned to run back to the action.

He arrived in time to see Unit-01 shred one of the Angels arms simply by holding its fingers in the way. James frowned wondering why he hadn't thought of that but was snapped out his thought train as Unit-01 changed its grip to the Angels face. James was about to move closer in case Shinji needed help but stopped when Unit-01 kicked the Angel away while still holding onto its face. James was surprised when Unit-01 stood up and bugled to the sky. It was then that he realised the Eva must have berserked. Unit-01 dropped to all three limbs and ran towards the still living Angel. James followed it with his eyes until he heard voices yelling by Mächtige Zuschlag's feet. Looking down he saw Ritsuko and several other Nerv scientists standing around. Looking down he noticed all of them recoiling from whatever they were looking at. James followed their gaze to find Unit-01 crouched over the Angel tearing chunks out of it and swallowing them. James looked back down at the people by his feet.  
"Do you want me to try and stop it?" He asked  
"No...I don't think you could anyway." Ritsuko replied sadly  
"Ok." James replied as he looked back at the grisly scene in front of him.  
"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM?" he heard a voice scream at him. Looking down he say a short haired woman staring at him with tears in her eyes. Crouching down to get a better look at her he realised he recognised her from his first day here.  
"Because I've seen worse." He replied in answer to his question.  
"What could be worse than this?" She asked incredulously  
"Watching a six year old girl do exactly the same thing..." James looked down again to notice everyone was staring at him.  
"Other people where the only food some people could get...you either ate them or died...and most people died anyway...it's just the way it is there." James blinked his eyes rapidly to ward off the tears he felt surfacing. Everyone was snapped out of their horror by the sound of Unit-01 bugling again as it stood victoriously above the fallen Angel. Everyone jumped when the armour plates covering Unit-01's arm burst apart and fell to the ground showing the living flesh of the Eva.  
"It's breaking the bindings." Ritsuko said wondrously  
"Wha...Bindings?" A long haired man asked  
"Yes...Those aren't armour plates...They're bindings to keep the Eva's under our control. And now Unit-01 is breaking them under its own power." Everyone remained silent as Unit-01 suddenly powered down, its rage spent. They ejected the entry plug out in the field to get Shinji out as soon as possible. As soon as he was out of the plug he fell to the ground crying. James noticed Misato running towards Shinji tears in her eyes but he couldn't stay and try comfort Shinji as well as he was being requisitioned to carry Unit-01 back to the cages. Picking up an Eva for the second time that day James straightened slowly suddenly very very tired. Walking away he opened a link so he could hear what was going on round Shinji. Listening to the babble for a few seconds he suddenly spoke up causing everyone to stop and look at the tablet his voice was coming from.  
"Hey Shinji...Stay strong man." Listening for a few more seconds to make sure his words had the desired effect of calming everyone down he kept going, the body in his arms feeling a lot heavier than it should have.

Putting his clothes back on after depositing Unit-01 into its restraints James sat down rubbing his temples struggling to keep tears back.  
"James?" James turned to face the source of the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. Asuka was standing in the doorway. James was hugging her before either realised what was happening. Asuka was surprised by the sheer ferocity of the hug as James buried his face in her shoulder and sobbed but after a few seconds she relaxed into it and awkwardly put her arms around his neck, holding him as released all the emotion he felt. When James eventually stopped crying and lifted his head from Asuka's shoulder they both stared at each for a few seconds before James realised what he was doing and quickly put Asuka down and wiped his eyes.  
"Thank you...Asuka" He said sadly before turning to finish buttoning up his shirt. Turning around again he was surprised to see Asuka still standing there.  
"Asuka...Did you need something?" James asked curiously  
"I...I...I don't know...I just...I don't wanna be alone right now." James felt his heart tearing as he looked at the pain on Asuka's face.  
"Then you can stay with me if you want?" James said trying to smile gently but failing miserably.  
"Thank you." Asuka said with a much more successful smile  
"So you wanna go home now?" James asked picking up his last few items and dropping them into his pockets  
"Yeah." Asuka replied.


	5. Chapter 5

So chapter 5 sorry it took a few days I hung out with a friend on Monday and even though i finished it yesterday i was worried about OOC so i got a friend to proof read and apparently it is quite OOC heavy but he told me to just upload it anyway...please don't be mad :P but yeah chapter 5.

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James woke up to find he really really didn't want to get up. Groaning he punched his pillow trying to fall asleep again. After about five minutes of futilely shifting trying to get comfortable he gave up and got out of bed. Stretching, he automatically looked over to Shinji's side of the room before remembering he'd been taken to the hospital. Sighing James walked to the kitchen to find himself some food. Walking into the kitchen he was surprised to see Asuka already up with a plate of severely burnt toast in front of her considering it was 6 am.  
"I couldn't sleep." She answered to his questioning look  
"Ah...Me neither." James replied before yawning hugely. Looking at the nearly completely black toast in front of Asuka James pointed at it and said  
"Want me to make you some more?" Asuka looked down at the charcoal in front of her before replying.  
"Yeah...I'm not very good at cooking."  
"I noticed." James said with a chuckle. Ducking the black projectile Asuka threw at him he collected Asuka's plate and threw the toast in the bin, pausing briefly to retrieve the impromptu missile before dropping that in the bin to. Taking out the bread and the toaster he noticed that it was a modern electrical one with a timer on the side designed specifically so that people don't burn toast. He also noticed that it was set to five.  
"Why is the toaster set to five?" He asked with a puzzled frown.  
"Ah well Shinji never does it long enough for me so I turned it up a little bit." Asuka replied before crossing her arms and glaring at James daring him to say something. James was about to but decided it was too early in the morning. Turning around he set the toaster to a much more respectable three before making breakfast. Setting Asuka's plate in front of her he sat down cross legged with his own taking a huge bite.  
"Why do you never wear a shirt?" Asuka asked suddenly. James nearly choked on his toast.  
"What?" He managed to gasp out after a couple seconds.  
"I've never seen you wear a shirt unless we're going out or you've just got back." Asuka said blushing slightly.  
"Oh well its cause it's too hot to wear a shirt here." James replied  
"Really? It may be permanently summer here but it's not that hot." Asuka said smugly  
"It is when you're used to snow and ice." James said simply  
"Snow and ice?" Asuka asked amazed  
"Yeah, South Africa is almost completely frozen...same thing that made Japan have permanent summer made South Africa a permanent winter." James replied sadly, sighing before he continued eating. Asuka didn't notice his mood to excited thinking about soft white snow. Leaning forward suddenly unintentionally showing James some cleavage which caused him to take a few seconds to answer her next question.  
" Is snow really as soft and fluffy as all the adults say?" She asked excitedly "I really wanna see snow"  
"No you don't." James replied darkly "It's cold, it's wet and it is most definitely not soft and fluffy." Asuka finally noticed James's mood.  
"James? Do you hate snow?" Asuka asked cautiously  
"Yes." James replied his entire body slumping as he stared at the empty plate in front of him.  
"Why?" Asuka couldn't help herself, she had to know what could make a boy who had more scars than anyone should retreat into himself like this.  
"My second raid." James began before pausing to wipe his eyes "We had gone to kill the bastards who had attacked one of the villages under our protection... they set a trap... drew us into a ravine before pushing enough snow on top of us to completely cover us... I managed to dig my way out only to find my fingers were so cold I couldn't fire my gun properly... eventually managed to flip the safety off...must of killed at least eight of them... but then my clip ran out... couldn't reload... got shot... so yeah I hate snow." Jams sniffed and wiped his eyes before looking up at Asuka.  
"Sorry." He said with a sad smile. Asuka took a few seconds to respond as she was still stunned by what James had described.  
"Why are you sorry?" She asked confused.  
"Cause I rambled and you probably don't really wanna hear about my past." James said sniffing one last time before looking up suddenly  
"Do you want some tea?" He asked  
"Uh yeah sure." Asuka said a bit confused as to why he suddenly wanted tea. James quickly made some tea even remembering to put the extra sugar in Asuka's cup. After handing Asuka's cup to her he steepled his fingers around his. Asuka tilted her head as she had an epiphany.  
"James...do you only like tea because it's warm?" She asked  
"Yeah...I like almost everything that's warm." He replied quietly. Asuka looked at him sadly before realising something.  
"Wait if you like being warm why don't you wear a shirt? Wouldn't that make you warmer?" She asked suddenly. James chuckled and took another sip of tea before answering  
"I'm at the perfect temperature now. If I put a shirt on I'd be too hot and I don't like being hot either but I'm not going to tell you that story now."  
"Why not?" Asuka asked before thinking. James chuckled as she blushed.  
"Because I've cried enough for this early in the morning." He said with a wry smile. With that James stood up to go have a shower.

After both him and Asuka had finished showering they stood around not really knowing what to do.  
"Hey do you wanna go see Shinji?" James asked suddenly.  
"Yeah but it's a little early." Asuka replied  
"Oh yeah...not used to getting up this early." James said "You think he'll be alright?"  
"Yeah Misato said it was just shock but they wanted to keep an eye on him anyway." Asuka replied  
"Good...Don't want anything to happen to him. I mean you and him are the only people who talk to me." James replied watching as Asuka walked around the lounge looking for something.  
"Really just the two of us?" Asuka stopped looking momentarily to look at James surprised.  
"Well Misato and Ritsuko do but they're adults you and Shinji are the only people my age who do...What are you looking for anyway?" James said amusedly as Asuka was getting more and more frustrated.  
"The damn remote!" Asuka threw up her hands in defeat.  
"It's on the couch..." James replied already looking at the innocent black object. Asuka whirled around to look where James was.  
"I could swear it wasn't there before you must have hidden it you idiot." Asuka was glaring at James who held up his hands in innocence.  
"I've been in the room just as long as you have." He said but Asuka was angry now.  
"Well then you hid it yesterday before you went to sleep." Asuka crossed her arms, unintentionally pushing her breasts up and displaying some cleavage thanks to the loose tank top she was wearing. James threw up his hands in defeat.  
"Fine whatever it doesn't matter it's there now." He said with a sigh  
"Hah you're just as much of a coward as Shinji." Asuka said smugly. James stopped in the middle of sitting down to stand back up to his full height.  
"I'm not a coward." He said anger on his face.  
"Yes you are otherwise you wouldn't..." Asuka was interrupted as James rushed her forcing her to retreat into the wall. James stopped with his hands on either side of her head.  
"Wanna call me a coward again?" He said leaning right in before bursting out laughing at the expression on Asuka's face  
"I'm sorry I'm joking I'd never do something like that I just wanted to..." It was James's turn to be interrupted as Asuka's knee came up and right into his greatest weak spot. James dropped like a stone, writhing on the floor, tears in his eyes.  
"You...cold...heartless...woman." He managed to gasp out.  
"That's what you get for being a dick." She said smugly. James could only stare up at her standing victoriously over him. When she walked away James slowly sat up still gently holding his crotch.

Sitting in the car on the way to the hospital James and Asuka weren't looking at each other. When they arrived Asuka got out quickly and rushed ahead while James walked more calmly next to Misato.  
"Did you and Asuka have a fight?" Misato asked curiously  
"Kinda...I played a joke and yeah it wasn't funny for all involved." James said rubbing the back of his neck and blushing as he thought back to what he'd done.  
"What kinda joke?" Misato asked suspiciously  
"Uhh I kinda pushed her up against a wall to scare her and yeah I forgot that I am actually quite scary and then yeah when I laughed at her she kinda...took offence." James was really regretting what he'd done now and was trying to think of some way to apologise.  
"Took offence how?" Misato was enjoying the mortification James seemed to be experiencing in front of her.  
"Well...she performed a surgical strike against my most vulnerable location." James said trying to avoid direct mention of what took place. Misato burst out laughing at James's tactful description.  
"Yeah thanks that's making me feel so much better about everything...hey while we're talking do you know any way I can say sorry?" James asked as Misato slowly recovered.  
"Hmm well if you're really serious about saying sorry...take her shopping." Misato said with a smile.  
"Shopping? How does that say sorry may I ask?" James said somewhat incredulously  
"Cause you'd be paying for everything." Misato said with a grin. James cringed, knowing how many clothes Asuka had and her often stated love for shopping.  
"No other ideas?" James asked hopefully  
"Not if you want her to know you're really sorry." Misato said laughing. James sighed before replying  
"Probably a good thing I haven't spent any of the advance payment I got."  
"You got an advance payment? What for?" Misato asked  
"It was meant to be for buying furniture and stuff but I haven't needed anything so it's all just sitting in my bank account... and soon enough it's all gonna be going into clothes for Asuka" James said with a grin.

Walking to Shinji's room they found Asuka waiting impatiently by the door  
"What took you two so long I didn't want to go in alone." Asuka said angrily  
"Why?" James said curiously.  
"Just...because." Asuka said glaring at him and causing him to back down quickly.  
"Ok well let's go in." Misato said to change the subject. They all walked in to find Shinji lying on his back staring at the ceiling.  
"Hey Shinji." James said walking toward the bed. Shinji turned his head to look at him  
"I see you two came together." He said bitterly, his eyes flicking momentarily to Asuka before resting on James.  
"Well yeah there's no point coming separately...and Misato's her to." James said confused by Shinji's hostility. Shinji brightened slightly when Misato came into view.  
"Hey Shinji... you feeling better now?" Misato asked gently  
"Yeah but I still don't think I needed to spend the night here." Shinji replied his eyes once again flicking to James. James only noticed because he was looking at Shinji at the time, confused he backed away from the bed letting Asuka take his place. Confused by Shinji's actions James sat down in a vacant chair and waited for Asuka and Misato to finish. Asuka walked away first and sat in a chair next to James looking annoyed but James didn't wanna risk an explosion by asking her about it just yet. When Misato eventually stepped away they all left slowly. James waited till last and lifted his hand in farewell only to have Shinji look away. Looking at Shinji confused James walked out and almost straight into a nurse who was walking in forcing him to dance out of the way...and straight into Asuka who promptly exploded.  
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING YOU GREAT BIG IDIOT DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" Asuka ran off with both James and Misato looking after her scratching their heads.  
"What did she say?" Said Misato eventually, turning to James. It took James a few seconds to realise Asuka had yelled in German. James translated Asuka's words for Misato before asking  
"Do you think that's from what I did?" James was worried that he might have ruined everything with Asuka.  
"I don't think so, she wasn't like that just before. Shinji did seem to be looking at her a lot for some reason and I think that might have annoyed her." Misato said thoughtfully. James let out a sigh of relief.  
"He kept glancing at me as well. What do you think it's about?" James asked  
"I dunno but let's go find Asuka before we think about it." Misato said already walking to the elevator. James followed quickly. When they got to the car Asuka wasn't there. Looking down the street James saw a flash of red hair disappear around a corner.  
"Fuck...Uhh damn she's gonna try run home I think." James told Misato quickly  
"Ughh stupid girl, someone like her can't just go running around a city." Misato ran a hand through her hair in frustration.  
"Want me to go after her? I can handle almost anything here and I still need to apologise." James said looking down the street Asuka had run down.  
"Really? You can handle anything? What if they have weapons?" Misato asked incredulously. James just turned around and lifted his shirt up to show her the two long bladed knives attached to his belt.  
"I've been fighting for a long time." He said simply  
"Oh... Then yeah go after her." Misato said. James started sprinting in the direction Asuka had gone skidding around the corner to see no one. Running down the street looking down every connecting street he saw her distinctive red hair go around another corner. Turning down that street he sprinted after her and skidded around the corner she had turned to find her in the arms of a large dirty looking man. The man noticed James looking at him and glared at him trying to scare him off. James walked down the street calmly stopping a few feet away.  
"You might wanna let her go." He said staring hard at the dirty man. The man laughed loudly before whistling. Three other men walked into the streets from several doorways. They circled James slowly, he just stood there waiting.  
"What do you have to say now ugly little boy?" The ringleader asked leering. James smiled at him  
"Bring it bitch." James said calmly. The first of the men ran at him swinging only to have his knuckles cut open by a sharp silver blade, the man stumbled backwards holding his hand as it spilt blood everywhere. The other three were a bit more cautious now that James had proved himself dangerous. The ringleader let go of Asuka, who ran to the side, before pulling his own knife from under his grimy shirt. James stood still both knives in his hands waiting for their next move. Both the men behind him rushed his at the same time. James just ducked as they ran past swinging widely before standing up again and kicking one of them to the ground, leaning back to dodge the knife the large man swung at him he rocketed forward to head butt him hard on the nose before stepping back and executing a roundhouse kick to knock him out cold. The last man looked from James to his friends a few times before running off. James relaxed his stance before leaning down over the still conscious man cowering on the ground.  
"Now I'm not going to kill you because I believe that's frowned on here but I better not catch you doing this again ok?" James said coldly. The man nodded rapidly.  
"Good." James said with a smile before cleaning his knife on the man's clothes. Turning around and putting the blades back into their sheaths he walked over to Asuka who was still standing against a wall.  
"You ok Asuka?" He asked cautiously stopping a couple feet away.  
"Yeah." She said after a few seconds.  
"Good... Let's go home now ok?" James said walking closer slowly  
"Yeah...and thank...Thank you... James." Asuka said slowly  
"Hey you're my friend no one is going to hurt you if I can help it." James said smiling at her. They started walking with Asuka pausing to kick the unconscious man causing James to chuckle. After about half an hour of walking James remembered what he still needed to do.  
"Hey Asuka... I was thinking... because of this morning... I was wondering... if you'd like to go shopping with me I mean I'd pay for everything so you can just buy stuff and I'll pay for it to say sorry and and yeah." James started slowly but said the last bit in a rush. Asuka looked up at him for a few seconds before answering.  
"You'll pay for everything? Even food and stuff when I get hungry?" She asked getting excited. James sighed before replying  
"Yes everything, I wouldn't really be doing something to say sorry if you had to pay."  
"Well it'll do but it better be the best shopping trip ever." Asuka replied with a mischievous grin her mood much improved with the promise of a shopping spree.


	6. Chapter 6

Ok this one hasn't been proof read at all so if there is OOC or anythin else you'll have to tell me :P but yeah this chapter was a lot easier to write even if it is over 1000 words shorter

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James woke up suddenly, feeling a foot connect with his stomach hard. Grunting he looked up so see Asuka standing over him her hands on her hips.  
"What the hell are you doing, we're going to be late for school now." She said before throwing his school uniform at him and walking out. Rubbing his temples, James looked at the time to see he had overslept and wouldn't have time for a shower. Grimacing he stood up to get dressed. Walking out of his room he found Asuka tapping her foot impatiently.  
"How long does it take to get ready? Let's go." She glared at him before walking to the door quickly.  
Walking after her James scratched his head tiredly before realising something didn't make sense.  
"Wait if you're this adamant about not being late why didn't you just leave?" He asked curiously  
"Because...because you'd probably get lost trying to walk to school idiot." Asuka replied. James knew she was hiding something but knew better than to pursue it, he didn't actually care, he liked being with Asuka even when she was insulting him almost non-stop he found her fiery nature amusing. As they were walking they passed by a dirty looking man standing in a doorway. The closer they got to him the closer Asuka got to James, unconsciously shifting away from the man. James knew then exactly why Asuka had waited for him even if she'd never admit it. Once they'd past the man James decided to distract Asuka, reaching his arm over her, he tapped her opposite shoulder causing her to turn in that direction. Realising that no one was there she turned to James who was trying and failing to keep a straight face. Asuka punched him in the arm before walking ahead briskly leaving James chuckling behind her. Thanks to their brisk pace they managed to arrive at school just in time. Walking into the classroom James noticed Shinji was already there. Walking towards him he noticed he seemed to be less annoyed than yesterday.  
"Hey Shinji, when did they let you out?" James asked as Shinji looked up at him  
"Oh, this morning." He said slowly  
"Well that's good I don't even know why you had to stay there, you seemed fine but yeah doesn't matter now. You coming home today?" James asked  
"Yeah I will be." Shinji said with a slight smile  
"Sweeeeet, no one can cook like you can man, it's like going from a five star restaurant to fast food." James said this with a wide grin which caused Shinji to smile slightly wider. James noticed this happily before also noticing the teacher walk into the classroom. Waving at Shinji James walked to his seat and prepared himself for another long day of school.  
"At least no one stares at me anymore." He thought.

For once all three of them left the school together. Walking out the front gate they found Misato parked, waiting for them.  
"Hello." She said with a smile.  
"Hey." Asuka, James and Shinji all said in perfect unison. Chuckling at their synchronisation Misato gestured to her car before speaking again.  
"We're going to Nerv today. Another of Mächtige Zuschlag's weapons arrived today."  
"Which one?" James asked leaning forward from the back seat  
"I don't know that but I do know that all of you are going to be piloting today, even Rei." Misato said while starting up the car.  
"Hah hear that Shinji, now you'll finally be able to show me your skills." James said with a grin before clapping Shinji on the shoulder and leaning back. Shinji smiled unconsciously at James's exuberance.

Arriving at Nerv James rushed ahead to find Ritsuko so he could find out which gun had arrived. Finding her he ran towards her.  
"Hello James." Ritsuko said as he rushed up  
"Which one is it? Uhh I mean Hello." James blushed slightly  
"The label on this one was... Vernichtung" Ritsuko said looking at her ever present tablet. James grinned widely.  
"Did they send the ammo?" He asked  
"Yes. They said they would have sent Gräuel as well but they didn't have enough room... I can see why" Ritsuko said looking up to where Mächtige Zuschlag waited. Shinji, Asuka and Misato arrived now to find James hurrying off to the locker room. Misato looked after him  
"That boy has an unhealthy attachment to those guns of his." She said turning back to Ritsuko  
"Well they are impressive pieces of hardware." Ritsuko replied calmly. Asuka looked at Shinji impatiently before speaking up.  
"We're going to get ready now." She said loudly before turning on her heel. Shinji followed her dutifully before they split for their separate locker rooms.

When they were all sitting in their plugs they all activated one at a time, starting with Unit-00. James took the time to listen to the First Child to try and figure out what kind of person she was. James frowned at her deadpan voice and simple answers.  
"The opposite of Asuka." James thought with a smile before concentrating again as he heard Shinji's voice as Unit-01 was being activated. Everything went smoothly so before long Mächtige Zuschlag lead the way to a specially cleared firing range. Noticing something that he hadn't been told.  
"Why are Dreizack and Weltenbrechers here? We already know they work." He asked curiously  
"Yes, but we still want to know their exact power and accuracy." Ritsuko said from back at headquarters. James smile widened and Mächtige Zuschlag sped up. Arriving where the three weapons were laid out James stopped as he realised he had no idea how he was going to put them on. Misato noticed his predicament and couldn't help but smile amused as she talked to him.  
"Why do you think the other three are there?" She said  
"Oh...Well that makes sense then." James said turning to wait for the three smaller Eva's. By the time they arrived James was getting impatient and quickly organised the three of them to connect the guns. Unit-00 picked up the main gun section of Dreizack while Unit-01 and Unit-02 heaved the ammo box onto Mächtige Zuschlag's back. Unit-00 placed the gun section against Mächtige Zuschlag's right arm and the clamps automatically grabbed it and secured it in position.  
"How the hell do you walk with that on your back?" Asuka asked suddenly. James chuckled  
"Mächtige Zuschlag is a lot stronger than your Eva's are and all this armour isn't all armour there are load enhancers in almost every plate on the back." James replied as he walked forward to take aim at an abandoned building. Once he was set Ritsuko told him to start shooting. James willingly pulled the trigger in his plug. Dreizack exploded, firing 2000 rounds a minute the building disappeared very very quickly. Standing back up straight James grinned.  
"Ok very good, move onto Weltenbrechers now please." Ritsuko said after a few seconds. Gesturing Asuka and Shinji over he released the clamps on the ammo box dropping it into the waiting arms of their Eva's. Once the box was placed on the ground he grabbed the gun section with his left hand before releasing the clamps and placing that next to the ammo box. Performing the same routine as last time Weltenbrechers was soon equipped and loaded.  
"Ok we only want you to fire one shot at first." Ritsuko said as James set up  
"Aww." James complained jokingly  
"You can fire more afterwards." Misato said chuckling. James chuckled to and took aim at the next building in line. James fired one single bullet and watched smiling as the entire building collapsed.  
"Can I fire more now?" James asked hopefully  
"Yes." Ritsuko said simply. James took aim again and proceeded to reduce the rubble to gravel. Once James was satisfied that he had caused enough destruction he signalled the somewhat bored pilots of the other Eva's to come help him again. When everything was back where it started Asuka noticed something strange.  
"Why does the new gun not have an ammo box?" She asked curiously.  
"Vernichtung... and it doesn't have a box because the bullets are too big to cycle properly so they have to be loaded manually." James said pointing Mächtige Zuschlag's finger at the pile of massive bullets placed next to it. Unit-00 stepped forward to pick up the colossal gun but James stopped Rei just before she picked it up.  
"You're going to need more than one Eva." He said in explanation  
"Really?" Shinji asked  
"Yeah it's just not the gun, there are extra recoil reducers attached to the gun itself so that's why it fits all the up to the shoulder." James said indicating the extra hardware. Shinji nodded and walked Unit-01 forward to help Unit-00 pick up the gun. Lifting it with minimal difficulty between the two of them they placed the gun against James arm.  
"Why your left arm?" Asuka asked suddenly.  
"Because I shoot left-handed." James replied while opening the chamber and loading a round.  
"But you're right handed." Asuka said confused.  
"Yeah I know I didn't understand it myself until I went to Germany. Turns out I'm right handed but left eye dominant so while I write and pick things up with my right hand I needed to shoot left handed to be accurate and it's just habit now." James levelled the five metre barrel at the last remaining building before grasping the handle sticking out the side of the gun with his right hand.  
"Why are you doing that?" Shinji asked as James was about to fire. Looking over his shoulder at Shinji James replied somewhat annoyed.  
"Because if I don't I'll break Mächtige Zuschlag's arm." Turning back he aimed Vernichtung at the building again. When he fired the shot threw his left arm back and if he hadn't set himself properly it would have thrown his entire Eva. When James tried to stand again he found he couldn't.  
"Shit...shitshitshitshitshitshitshit ." He said as the now powerless Mächtige Zuschlag slowly tipped sideways. Landing hard on her side Mächtige Zuschlag sprawled as Asuka burst out laughing.  
"Well I think we found the limit of this prototype engine." Ritsuko said to James.  
"Yeah glad I could be of service." James said dryly  
"You haven't seen what you did to the building have you?" Misato asked laughing. James looked towards the building to find it wasn't there anymore, there was also a crater in the hill several kilometres away. Utilising all three Eva's they managed to roll Mächtige Zuschlag's huge bulk so that James could be ejected safely. After about three hours of logistics planning and another five of actual transport time they managed to get Mächtige Zuschlag back to Nerv HQ where they discovered the engine had simply stalled and could have been restarted anytime.


	7. Chapter 7

sorry about the lack of words "/ but yeah next chapter should be longer...and hopefully be better written because these last few chapters I haven't really been happy with. Anyway if you think their's something wrong please please write a review and tell me, I can't change it if i don't know about it.

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James awoke to a rough shaking.  
"There's another Angel attacking." Was all Shinji said before running out. Rolling out of bed James quickly dressed before joining Shinji, Asuka and Misato in the kitchen. When he ran in Misato looked up from the conversation she was having on her phone.  
"...He's ready now we're leaving." Putting down the phone she grabbed the keys of her car and they all ran out into the still morning air.  
"What time is it?" James asked once they were all in the car and on their way.  
"3:30 am." Misato replied. James cringed before looking at Asuka and Shinji as they mentally prepared themselves for the fight ahead. James sat back understanding their need for silence. Arriving at NERV they were ushered quickly to the lockers to get changed. Walking out they saw Unit-00 already being loaded onto the lift that would take it to the surface. James noticed Asuka scowling at Rei's Eva. Chuckling he jogged to Mächtige Zuschlag's plug so that it could be loaded. Once he was in place and the plug had been filled with LCL he waited patiently for the clamps holding his Eva in place to release. After Unit-02 walked past him he lost patience.  
"I'm ready, why aren't I being released?" He asked annoyed  
"You're not going to be fighting except in an emergency." Ritsuko replied calmly  
"WHAT?" James couldn't believe it  
"Commanders orders, don't ask me to tell you why I don't know." Ritsuko said. James sat back angrily. It was only then that he noticed that Shinji hadn't been released either.  
"Hey Shinji, guess they think they don't need us." James said to him  
"Yeah." Shinji replied sadly. James grimaced slightly before talking to Ritsuko again.  
"So what's happening with the Angel that they don't want us up there?" He asked  
"It's staying in orbit right now so Asuka and Rei are just setting up for now." Ritsuko replied absentmindedly watching something on a screen. James grew bored of asking questions and sat back to try and get comfortable.

They all heard Asuka's first scream, and her second, and her third.  
"What the hell is happening?" James yelled. No one answered him but listening to the general babble he knew that something very bad was happening to Asuka. After about 15 seconds of stressing he lost patience with everyone else and started straining against the bindings. Thanks to Mächtige Zuschlag's huge arms he slowly pushed them away. Eventually getting his hands into a proper pushing position he leant forward and shoved with all the power of a 45 metre tall killing machine. The clamps broke completely falling to the ground. James stepped over them on his way to the lifts, his anger making him ignore the voices yelling in his ear. Arriving at the lifts he stepped onto one. Looking up Mächtige Zuschlag bent its legs and launched itself upwards. Throwing her legs and arms out Mächtige Zuschlag caught herself inside the tunnel to the surface. Slowly climbing up James was almost crying listening to Asuka scream and beg for help. Gritting his teeth, James climbed higher and higher. About halfway up a huge door clamped shut in front of him. Growling James bought Mächtige Zuschlag's fist back and sent it slamming into the door, tearing through it and giving him space to shove his hands between the separate halves. Straining against the machinery in his awkward position James almost fell but managed to hang onto the door before setting his legs again. Finally shoving them apart Mächtige Zuschlag continued up the tunnel uninterrupted. Breaking his way through the concrete cover James saw what was happening to Asuka for the first time. Unit-02 was slumped over with a light shining brightly directly onto it. It was only then that he realised Asuka had gone silent. Mächtige Zuschlag ran forward reaching Unit-02 as Rei threw the Lance of Longinus. Experiencing less than 30 seconds of the agony Asuka felt James gasped when the light suddenly cut off. Recovering slowly he only just managed to catch Unit-02 as it fell.  
"James, turn Unit-02 over so we can eject Asuka without the plug falling." He heard someone say but he couldn't place the voice over the fear he felt. Placing Unit-02 face down on the ground he ejected his own plug.

Running to the plug sticking out of Unit-02's back James could barely breathe. Finally clambering up to it he grabbed the handles and almost tore the door out. Sticking his head inside, he saw Asuka sitting limply, her head on her chest. Reaching in and pulling her out, he pulled her to his chest checking for any signs of life. Hearing the sound of her breathing and the rise and fall of her chest had him sagging with relief. James sat there with Asuka held close until medical personnel arrived. Reluctantly letting her go he watched as she was rushed to the hospital. Standing up he saw Misato and Ritsuko running towards him.  
"Was she ok?" was the first thing Misato asked.  
"Yes." James replied acidly. Ritsuko noticed his tone and instantly knew the reason.  
"We would have let you out but the commander told us not to." She said to James who turned his rage filled eyes to her.  
"SO YOU JUST LET HER TAKE THAT AGONY?" James roared at her. Ritsuko visibly recoiled from his anger but several NERV employees ran to restrain him before he could attack her.  
"How do you know what she felt?" Ritsuko asked acidly  
"Because I felt it to, I felt it for about 30 seconds and I wanted to run away, Asuka felt it for a hell of a lot longer." James said before shaking off the people holding him. He turned away and started walking towards the hospital.  
"You shouldn't have done that." Misato said rubbing her temples.  
"That boy is to...to...I don't know but he needs someone to stand up to him." Ritsuko said still angry  
"He's strong, and that may be but from what I've seen he'd tear apart the entire world to protect Asuka." Misato said as James started running.  
"Really? They've known each all of a week?" Ritsuko asked doubtfully.  
"He's spent his entire life with almost no female interaction, and what he did have wouldn't have been anything like what he has with Asuka, I think he's found a purpose again." Misato said smiling sadly  
"How do you know so much about him?" Ritsuko asked as there had been nothing like this in his file.  
"I live with him remember? I listen to what he says and watch what he does. When he first came here it was because he had nothing else to do, now he has Asuka...and Shinji know that I think about it." Misato said thinking back to the stories Shinji and Asuka had told him.  
"Well that may be the case but he won't be able to get through life with the way he is." Ritsuko said more calmly, understanding why James had lost it.  
"Yeah well Asuka will change him." Misato said before turning to deal with moving the two Eva's blocking the road.

James arrived at the hospital exhausted. Grasping his knees he gasped for breath for a minute before heading inside to find Asuka. After about half an hour of searching, he eventually found the room she was in. Walking over to the bed he stood there looking down at Asuka's still form, the equipment hooked up to her and the gentle rhythm of her breathing the only signals assuring James she was alive. After about half an hour Misato and Shinji arrived to find James sitting on the floor his head in his hands.  
"Hey James. You ok?" Shinji asked  
"I think...I'm going to go home now." James said slowly  
"Do you want a lift?" Misato asked  
"No...I need to walk." James said standing up  
"Hey James, stay strong man." Shinji said purposefully using the same words that had helped him. James stopped and turned to Shinji, they stood looking at each other for a few seconds before James stepped forward and hugged Shinji. Shinji was so surprised he just stood still. James withdrew and clapped Shinji on the shoulder before walking away.

James walked slowly wrapped in thought. Even when it started raining James just kept walking, the rain was the reason he noticed the men following him. James knew that no one wearing a suit would willingly walk in the rain. Ducking around a corner he stopped and waited. The men turned the corner and jumped slightly when they saw James standing there.  
"Bad day to follow me." Was all he said before running forward and drop-kicking the first of the two men. Landing on the ground he spun on his hand, swinging he legs out he tripped up the other one. Standing up he felt a fist connect with the side of his head. Staggering back he managed to dodge the first mans second swing. Stepping forward he kicked him in the gut before grabbed his head and brought his knee up hard. Leaving the first man unconscious he turned to the second one just in time to get a fist to the gut, stumbling backwards he was hit several more times before he managed to jump out of range. Spitting out blood he advanced slowly on the second man, dodging his swing he performed a swift uppercut to the underside of his ribs, dropping him with a grunt. James stood over him as he coughed, struggling to breath. Lifting his leg high James brought his foot crashing down onto the mans knee. Leaving them lying on the ground James kept walking.


	8. Chapter 8

I wanted this proof read but my friend who normally makes sure I don't move to fast or go to OOC decided not to reply so sorry if there are to many mistakes/OOCness and yeah if there is please tell me cause I'll re-write the entire thing if I need to. So yeah chapter 8...very waffy. Ok should be huge changes to this and yeah will write replies to the reviews at the bottom.

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James hadn't slept. Even when he'd worked out till he had collapsed to the ground his mind was too busy with thoughts of Asuka to sleep. He looked at the alarm clock to see it was only 5 am, grunting he slowly levered himself, trying to make as little noise as possible to avoid waking Shinji. Sitting with his back against the wall he rubbed his temples. James stayed like that for a few minutes before deciding he couldn't just sit there. Slowly standing up and grabbing some clothes he stealthily went for a shower, hoping the sound of the water wasn't loud enough to wake anyone. Walking out of the bathroom his hope were dashed as Shinji stood there sleepy but with a serious expression on his face.  
"Are you going to see Asuka?" He asked  
"Yeah that was the plan." James replied  
"You won't be able to get in." Shinji said sadly  
"Yeah not through the main entrance anyway." James replied with a short grin  
"What do you mean?" Shinji asked curiously  
"They don't have barred windows, and I doubt they keep them locked." James said  
"But what if they are locked?" Shinji asked after a few seconds thought. James shrugged  
"I can pick a lock." He said  
"Ok well...I suppose I'll see you later then. You going to go to school?" Shinji asked  
"Probably not." James replied sheepishly  
"Ok. I'll come and visit after school then." Shinji said slowly  
"Yeah you should. Anyway I'm going to go now." James said walking past Shinji

Jogging quickly James arrived at the hospital in about an hour. Walking around to the back he found a convenient pipe leading up to the first floor of windowsills. Grasping it and pulling himself up he remembered how tired his arms were. Slowly climbing up to the first set of windowsills he took a short break to stretch his arms. Climbing especially slowly James almost fell several times only managing to save himself with a flung out arm grasping the edge of a windowsill. When he eventually arrived at the floor he remembered Asuka being on he moved slowly trying to see through the windows to find which room Asuka was in. The fifth window he came across had a light coming from inside. Peeking around the edge of the window he saw an orderly fussing around someone before checking the chart at the bottom of the bed. When he eventually moved out of the way James had a brief view of Asuka lying peacefully before the light went out. Moving forward James encountered no resistance from the window. Sliding inside he shut the window again before turning slowly to allow his eyes adjust to the darkness of the room. Once he could see enough to not walk into anything James walked forward to the side of the bed. Looking down at Asuka. James blinked back a few tears before walking to the door to make sure no one was around. Sighing he walked back to the bed wondering why the hell he'd decided to come here. Sitting down in the chair next to the bed James yawned once before passing out.

Deep in Asuka's mind she knew that she was asleep and she knew why. She didn't want to wake up, she wanted to stay in this calm and comfortable sleep. Slowly she realised that she was cold, she didn't want to be cold but nothing here could warm her up. Asuka felt something warm on her back, turning around she saw a light and it was warm. Walking towards it she got warmer and warmer. She started running towards the distant light.

James awoke to someone yelling at him angrily. Slowly opening his eyes he remembered where he was, except now there was light coming through the window.  
"Shit." He mumbled to himself. Reluctantly sitting up he faced the nurse who had stopped yelling when he'd opened his eyes.  
"You're not supposed to be here." The female nurse said crossing her arms. James slowly stood up to his full height.  
"Well it's too late for that now." He said calmly. The nurse couldn't argue with that.  
"Well you're going to have to leave." She said glaring at James  
"No." James said simply. The nurse decided she wasn't enough manpower to deal with someone like James retreated to find reinforcements. Sitting back down he rubbed his temples wondering how long it would be until he got physically thrown out. When the nurse returned with two male doctors they found him fixing the blankets around Asuka before turning to face them.  
"I'm guessing you're going to try make me leave?" James asked the doctor at the front.  
"Well that was the plan but I don't think you being here will have any negative effect so you can stay for now but please be mindful of the other patients." The doctor said kindly before ushering the other two out, much to the nurses surprise and annoyance. James chuckled at her expression before he realised that he should probably call Misato to tell her where he was.

James was woken up by a hand shaking him gently. Thinking it was another hospital staff member he grunted and curled tighter into the chair.  
"Come on James we need your help." Misato said in exasperation. James rolled over as he recognised her voice.  
"What for?" He asked his brain not working at its top speed.  
"There's another Angel." Misato explained. James's face darkened  
"You don't need me for that." He said. Misato sighed in frustration  
"This is no time to be an immature little boy James." Misato said to him  
"Fuck the Angel, fuck NERV and fuck you." James said as he withdrew completely. Misato stood back for a few seconds before giving up and walking out to take Shinji to NERV. James looked after her immediately regretting what he'd done. He contemplated going after them but by the time he'd decided they'd already left.

James was sitting on the edge of Asuka's bed when Shinji burst through the door with tears in his eyes.  
"YOU BASTARD SHE WOULD STILL BE ALIVE IF YOU'D BEEN THERE!" Shinji screamed at James  
"What the hell are you talking about?" James said slightly more calmly as he stood up  
"REI IS DEAD YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Shinji was shaking as he pointed at James.  
"I'm sorry Shinji, but what could I have done?" James asked  
"YOU'RE THE STRONGEST PERSON I KNOW YOU COULD HAVE done something!" Shinji was slowly quieting down but he was still glaring at James.  
"No I couldn't, they would have had me sitting doing nothing unless the Angel had gotten passed you two." James said calmly. This seemed to reignite Shinji's anger.  
"NO THEY WOULDN'T HAVE , THEY WANTED YOU TO BE THE FIRST TO FIGHT IT BUT INSTEAD YOU HID HERE HIDING FROM EVERYTHING!" Shinji yelled. James had stepped forward and punched Shinji before he knew what he was doing.  
"Oh fuck, I'm sorry Shinji." James said as he knelt to help him up. Once he was standing Shinji swung hard and hit James square on the jaw. James took the hit without complaint knowing he deserved it.  
"I'm sorry Shinji, I didn't mean to do that, it happened before I knew it." James said before sitting down heavily on the edge of the bed. Shinji had calmed down after hitting James.  
"It's ok, I deserved it." He said hanging his head.  
"No you didn't." James said moments before Misato burst through the door.  
"Rei is alive." She gasped out. Shinji looked stunned for a few seconds before his face split into a huge smile.  
"Where is she?" He asked excitedly  
"Down the hall, they just brought her in." Misato said with a smile. Shinji ran out leaving Misato and James in an awkward silence.  
"No change?" Misato asked eventually  
"No, she's still sleeping." James said looking down at Asuka.  
"Is Rei gonna be ok?" He asked looking up with tears in his eyes.  
"Yeah, a little banged up but she'll live." Misato said  
"That's good. I might go home now." James said wearily  
"Well I'm going to go see Rei now. You ok to walk home?" Misato asked  
"Yeah it's not that far." James said as he stood up.

Asuka finally reached the light and ran into it with a glorious smile on her face. Waking up slowly the first thing she was aware of was someone calling her name. Opening her eyes she saw Shinji's face with a joyous smile on her face.  
"Gah, what the hell are you doing you pervert." She yelled recoiling. Shinji's smile just widened before running to the door to call Misato. Misato walked in to confirm Shinji's excited talking. Asuka was slowly realising where she was but couldn't remember why. When she did she suddenly sat up straight.  
"What happened to the Angel." She asked suddenly  
"It's ok the Angel is dead, Rei killed it." Misato said  
"How long was I unconscious for?" Asuka asked a lot calmer now  
"Only a day." An excited Shinji cut in before Misato could speak. Misato smiled warmly before walking out into the corridor and pulling out her phone.  
"Hello." James said tiredly  
"Hey James, Asuka just woke up." Misato told him.  
"Really? Is she ok?" James asked excitedly  
"Yeah she's fine the doctor should be checking her properly in a few minutes and then she should be able to come home." Misato said smiling at the happiness in James's voice.  
"Ok...I guess I'll stay here then. No point running there just to come back." James said after thinking for a few seconds  
"Ok I'll call you when we leave." Misato said before flipping her phone shut and walking back in to talk to Asuka.

"Ok you're fine to go." The doctor said kindly after checking Asuka's pulse. Asuka hopped off the bed and they all left for home. When they got there Asuka yawned tiredly.  
"I think I'll take a nap." She said as she walked through the door. James heard her voice and stood up from the couch to walk into the entryway.  
"Hey Asuka." He said nervously  
"Hello James...Oh yeah just because I was in hospital doesn't mean I've forgotten about our shopping trip." Asuka had walked off after her first words but had popped her head back around the door to remind James of their most important outing. James sighed and waved his acceptance.

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Ok review reply times (sorry if I sound angry I'm not but there are some things I take issue with.

AngelOfDoom: wasn't actually trying to write a self insert. James is quite different from me but I spose i can see how you got that.  
Rule 1: yeah...changed that :P  
Rule 2: James hasn't even managed to hurt an Angel yet and he has been slapped before. Also he will probably get his ass kicked later in later chapters.  
Rule 3: James isn't a better pilot than Asuka... I know this is a quote so not everything will apply but please paraphrase if it doesn't  
Rule 4: Can't say anything against this one but I don't think I've gone to far with random events  
Rule 5: I have been following the series but in another 2 chapters I think I'm gonna start the transition into the AU  
Rule 6: I think I've managed to keep them from their stereotypes but if their are times I haven't I apologise  
Rule 7: Yeah the paraphrasing thing again  
Rule 8: yeah... my bad I wasn't going to but it just ended up being written like that but I'm gonna try changing it to a brother/sister relationship.

KageOni: Thanks I was trying :P and yeah chapter 3 was about the time I realised I'd started writing about it but it should be changed now  
Proof Reader: He didn't actually have time to read most of these chapters as he has other shit in his life and I wanted to keep up with my chapter a day  
Gary Stu: yeah I can see that he might have changed without me realising I've tried to rewrite some chapters and hopefully in future chapters he wont be so bad.  
Final paragraph: The main purpose of this fic is to be set AFTER EoE (without the 3rd Impact) I just introduced James now so I could actually get to the AU


	9. Chapter 9

So hopefully people are still willing to read this after chapter 8 but yeah this one is setting the foundation for some events in the next few chapters as well as some in chapters far in the future. If you have a problem with this I still welcome constructive criticism and I am willing to change the story if you give me sufficient reason.

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James woke up a few days later quite content, he and Shinji were getting along fine after their extremely short fistfight and he was getting much better at reading thanks to Asuka's teaching. James lost all the air in his lungs when a pair of feet landed on his chest. Coughing he looked up to see Asuka standing over him with her arms crossed.  
"It's Sunday so we're going shopping." She said commandingly. James shifted forcing her to get off of him. Sitting up he looked at the clock to see it was only 8 am, James looked at Asuka with disbelief on his face.  
"You're waking me up at eight, what time do you want to get there?" James asked annoyed  
"An hour ago, now get up idiot." Asuka said before walking out of his room. James heard a soft chuckle and turned to see Shinji laughing at him.  
"Don't make me drag you along." James threatened. Shinji immediately quietened  
"Yeah didn't think you wanted to become a pack animal for a day." James said before getting up slowly. Grabbing a change of clothes and a towel he walked to the door before turning and saying  
"Enjoy your stress free day while I get dragged around, forced to carry anything that Asuka takes a fancy to." Shinji grinned as James went to have a shower.

James didn't even have time to eat breakfast before Asuka had dragged him from the house. Waiting at the bus stop Asuka was getting impatient while James used the time to prepare himself for a day of taking orders. When the bus finally arrived Asuka hopped on leaving James to pay the fee.  
"You were being serious when you said I had to pay for everything." James said when he walked to the back of the bus to join Asuka. Asuka just punched him on the arm. Arriving at the massive shopping complex Asuka immediately grabbed James by the wrist and started walking to the nearest clothing store. After what seemed like hours spent browsing Asuka eventually picked out an outfit and held it up against her.  
"Do you think Shinji would like this?" She asked  
"I'm fairly sure any guy would like that but yes Shinji would like that." James said with a sly smirk. Asuka glared at him before shoving the clothes into his arms. James sighed as she grabbed clothes seemingly at random before dumping them into his arms.  
"That's what I get for being smart." He thought to himself. Leaving the store with several bags in each hand James obediently followed Asuka into the store directly adjacent before he realised what kind of store it was.  
"You buying clothes for Shinji?" He asked curiously as he looked around at the racks of male attire.  
"No, I'm buying clothes for you." Asuka said dragging him deeper into the store  
"But I don't need any more clothes." James protested. Asuka just turned and glared at him until he held up his hands in defeat.  
"Ok fine but I only like black." James said trying to maintain at least some control. Asuka sighed  
"You wouldn't suit bright colours anyway...not with that face." She said with a smirk. James just sighed as she started pulling various shirts and jeans of the racks. James put the bags he was carrying down as Asuka shoved them into his arms and telling him to go try them on. Once James had changed into the first set of clothes he stepped out of the changing rooms to find at least ten girls standing their watching him.  
"So what do you think?" Asuka asked the girls surrounding her. Amid their exclamations of appreciation at his body and sadness that his face didn't match James said quietly.  
"What...the...fuck?" but no one heard it before he was shoved back into the changing room to try the other clothes on. After about half an hour of humiliation in where he changed clothes more time than he could remember and had his shirt lifted up by some unknown hand even more times than that the other girls were eventually banished by Asuka so she could continue shopping.  
"That was the worst experience I've had since I left South Africa." James said acidly.  
"I had assumed it would be." Asuka said with an evil grin. James put a hand on her shoulder and shoved her into the nearest clothes rack. She came back with a vengeance, her arm swinging around in a massive arc before her open palm connected with his face hard. James rubbed his cheek and chuckled.  
"That one actually hurt." He said before picking up the bags and hurrying to the counter to pay for his new clothes. Asuka followed more slowly with a glare that promised murder.

After visiting half a dozen other stores they stopped for lunch. Gratefully dropping the bags he was carrying James sat down at the table of the cafe Asuka had decided on. James ordered three separate dishes as his stomach was complaining about not being fed until now. Asuka ordered a light salad which gave James an opportunity to good to pass up.  
"Worried about your weight hey Asuka?" He asked slyly. Asuka glared at him for a few seconds before replying.  
"No, I just want to save money to buy more clothes." She said with a look that dared James to say something. He wisely held his tongue. Once they were done and James was trying to summon the motivation to stand up and keep going Asuka surprised him with a question.  
"What do you think of me?" She asked as he leant forward to stand up. Taken by surprise James forgot to slow his advance and smacked his head against the table. Rubbing his head he sat up again  
"Ow, but what do you mean?" He asked not really understanding  
"Well do you think I'm annoying or stupid or, or what?" Asuka asked him with an odd note in her voice. James replied slowly not wanting to say the wrong thing.  
"Well from what I've seen and heard you're very smart, brave, a damn good Eva pilot, I'm assuming you don't need to be told you're beautiful, you're a good friend and I'm glad I met you...and you don't hate me." James listed off, finishing with a grin.  
"Thank you." Asuka said with a smile  
"No problem...I'm sure Shinji thinks the same, if not more." James said with a wink before ducking the punch Asuka aimed at his head. Standing up James picked up the bags strewn around his seat before turning to Asuka.  
"Shall we continue Oh Amazing and beautiful Asuka?" James said mockingly. Asuka just walked past him and punished him for his wit by buying far more clothes than she had originally planned.

Standing at the bus stop thoroughly regretting his decision to try and be funny James realised something.  
"How the hell am I meant to get this on the bus?" He said holding his bag-laden arms up.  
"I'm sure you'll figure out something." Asuka said as she smiled sweetly before hopping on the bus that had just arrived. Grumbling James spent at least five minutes getting the bags through the doors and paying the fee. When they arrived home he spent another five minutes getting off. Asuka walked ahead of him all the way to Misato's apartment. Walking in after a bouncing Asuka James struggled through the hallway until he could dump all the bags into Asuka's room where she waited to try everything on for a second time. Straightening up he found several bags held up to him.  
"Don't forget yours." Asuka said  
"Ughh yeah yeah" James said as he grabbed the bags and threw them into his room before going for a very long relaxing shower.

Walking back into his room he found Shinji listening to music. James sat down on is bed to go through the new additions to his wardrobe. Grimacing at the one colourful shirt Asuka had snuck in James folded them all and put them in piles at the foot of his bed as there was no more room on Shinji's clothes rack. James had just placed the final shirt down when the door opened and Asuka stepped in wearing the first outfit she'd picked out. She frowned when Shinji didn't turn around. Walking past James she tapped Shinji on the shoulder to get his attention. Shinji turned around to find his eyes exactly level with Asuka's cleavage as she leant over him.  
"You idiot, I come in here to show you the clothes I buy and you're too busy listening to your stupid music to notice." Asuka yelled at Shinji before walking out angrily. James only just managed to keep from bursting out laughing at Shinji's face before Asuka left. Once the door closed behind her he lost it, falling onto his stomach as tears ran down his eyes. Slowly sitting up he found Shinji looking at him annoyed.  
"I'm sorry it's just that she bought that outfit for you." James said as he wiped the tears from his eyes.  
"What, why would she do that?" Shinji asked confused  
"Cause she likes you man." James said grinning  
"No she doesn't, all she ever does is hit me and yell at me." Shinji protested.  
"Ok man listen to me, not only did she buy clothes because she thought you'd think she looks nice in them but she came here just to show them to you. I'm no expert but to me that seems as if she likes you... and you should see how she reacts when I bring up your name." James finished with a grin.  
"I still don't think she likes me." Shinji said stubbornly  
"Alright man, not like I lose anything." James said before getting ready to go to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

ok this hasnt been proof read at all cause I'm to damn lazy to do it myself and the friend i normally get to do it...is just as lazy as me but yeah hopefully not to many spelling/grammatical mistakes and hopefully no OOC but knowing me there's at least a little bit but yeah enjoy and review if you see a mistake or have a suggestion

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James woke up lying in the middle of the floor with his blanket wrapped completely around him.  
"How in the fuck?" He said as he sat up. Rubbing his eyes with one hand he yawned before remembering it was Monday. Sighing he got up and grabbed a towel and his school uniform.  
"Stupid school, not like I learn anything, I learn more from Asuka and Shinji just talking to me...fucking learn more piloting my Eva." James finished his verbal complaining as he reached the bathroom.

After a leisurely shower James walked into the kitchen to find Asuka sitting stiffly eating toast while Shinji nursed a red mark on the side of his face. James managed to keep a straight face for about five seconds before he lost it and fell to the ground laughing. After giving both James and Shinji another slap Asuka walked out the door to get to school. James walked with Shinji at a more leisurely pace. Walking to school James spoke up.  
"Hey Shinji." He said  
"Yeah." Shinji said looking up at the taller boy  
"I trust you man so hopefully this will be pointless but you better not hurt Asuka, ever, cause not only will she kill you but I will bring you back to life and then kill you again." James said this with a grin but the look in his eyes told Shinji he wasn't joking  
"I don't think I could hurt her." Shinji said  
"Nah man you can, she likes you and soon enough she'll grow to love you if she doesn't already and that's the easiest time to hurt someone, so if you two ever do break up...both of you have to want to do it." James said  
"Wait we're going out now?" Shinji asked suddenly. James hung his head  
"No not officially but dude she bought an outfit just for you, and besides since you live together you don't need to be going out to fall in love." James said  
"Well, I don't think I'd mind if Asuka fell in love with me." Shinji said with a shy smile  
"Good cause it's going to happen." James said before shoving Shinji lightly. After a few minutes of silent walking Shinji broke the silence.  
"Hey James, why did you tell me all that?" He asked curiously  
"What do you mean?" James asked  
"Well if you hadn't told me Asuka liked me I would be laughing at you right now, and then you might have been able to go out with her." Shinji said. James laughed before answering  
"Nah man Asuka doesn't like me like that, and besides she's more like my little sister than anything else, stupid since we're the same age but yeah." James said with a smile at Shinji  
"Like a little sister?" Shinji asked his face clearly showing his lack understanding  
"Well she's more than a friend but not like a girlfriend, I treat her like I'd treat a little sister...or sister...like you're like my little brother." James said with a grin.  
"Little brother? I've never had a brother before." Shinji said  
"Well you have one now." James said with a grin. Shinji smiled for the rest of the school day.

James had a good day at school, his class were used to his scars and he could have a normal conversation with any of them, he even had an awkward five minute conversation with Rei about going to NERV after school. Watching her walk away James shook his head.  
"What was that about?" Shinji said as he walked up  
"We're going to NERV after school, apparently there's a sixth child." James said  
"Ok cool, why did she tell you that?" Shinji said curiously  
"I actually have no idea, maybe I was just the first one she saw with an opening to tell." James replied. Shinji looked thoughtful for a few seconds before replying.  
"Yeah that's probably it. Did you bring lunch today?" He asked  
"Uhh...no, no I didn't." James said. Shinji sighed and handed him a lunch bag.  
"I knew I'd have to make you one." He said  
"Yeah well...shhh you're better at cooking than I am." James said with a grin  
"Damn straight." Shinji said grinning back. James and Shinji shared a short laugh before Shinji spoke up again.  
"Hey my friends want to know if you'd eat with us. They probably just want to ask about your scars and stuff." Shinji said looking over to where his friends waited.  
"Well I've already told you so I don't mind going over it again, it's getting easier to think about now." James said with a smile which Shinji returned. Standing up James followed Shinji to where Kensuke and Touji were sitting. Immediately after he sat down Kensuke was leaning in close to inspect his scars.  
"Yes they're real and yes they hurt." James said to his unspoken questions.  
"That's so cool!" Kensuke exclaimed pulling out his camera to take pictures. James smiled amused as Kensuke asked what they were all for and the look of awe on his face when he was told.  
"Does your Eva have scars to?" Kensuke was bombarding James with questions.  
"No, I've never even thought about it before now." James said  
"Are you going to give it scars now?" Kensuke was relentless but James didn't mind  
"Probably not, I might see if I can get them painted onto the armour though." James said thoughtfully  
"I wish I was an Eva pilot." Kensuke said sadly  
"No you don't." Said Shinji and Touji at the same time.  
"Oh yeah you were the fourth child weren't you." James said looking at Touji  
"Yeah and my first time piloting it I almost died." Touji said angrily  
"Yeah I was there, well watching in the control room anyway." James said sympathetically  
"Yeah well then you know what happened." Touji looked away suddenly  
"You're lucky you survived man, that "Dummy Plug" or whatever it's called is a bad idea." James said before noticing Shinji wasn't handling the topic very well.  
"You look pretty strong man, how about an arm wrestle?" James asked Touji as it was the first thing he could think of to change the subject. Touji looked confused until James stealthily gestured towards Shinji.  
"Oh, well you're on man, let the best man win." Touji said competitively  
"I plan to." James said with a grin before clearing a space in front of him and Touji. Placing their arms in the right positions James and Touji clasped hands. Kensuke was filming excitedly while Shinji looked on successfully distracted.  
"Three... two... one." Touji counted down. James immediately applied all his strength into pushing Touji's hand down, surprisingly Touji managed to keep his arm up if only just. James backed off slightly to reassess his opponent. Touji felt James draw back and pushed suddenly forcing James to the defensive. James's hand was hovering less than an inch of the table when Touji ran out of steam. James's hand shot upwards and over to slam Touji's hand on the table. Both of them were panting when they shook hands.  
"Damn you're good man." James said after a few seconds  
"Yeah well you're better." Touji replied  
"Yeah but I've been training since I was six." James said leaning back. It was only then he noticed the crowd of people around him.  
"Uhh...hi." He said after a few seconds.  
"How did you do that?"  
"That was amazing."  
"You're both so strong."  
"That was the greatest thing I've ever seen."  
The voices came from every side leaving James and Touji completely confused. Kensuke happily leapt to the rescue.  
"Come on now people, these two champions need to rest after their showdown give them some space." He said while shepherding people away. James smiled at him gratefully. James was about to say something about before he remembered they had to go to NERV, he was trying to think of something else to talk about when the bell rang. Standing up leisurely James stretched lightly before walking to class with Shinji and his new friends.

After school they spent several minutes trying to pry Asuka away from her friends so that they could go to NERV. Eventually getting her away they walked to the train station to get them within walking distance of NERV. They found Rei already waiting there patiently. When they had all gotten on the train Shinji started a conversation with James.  
"It seems like you have a fan." Shinji said grinning.  
"Huh?" James was confused  
"Kensuke won't stop talking about you." Shinji explained.  
"Oh, well I'm sure he'll find something better to get excited about soon enough." James said waving his hand nonchalantly.  
"You better hope so otherwise he'll follow you around all day." Shinji laughed. James just grimaced. They arrived at their stop and all four of them got off together, this didn't last long as Rei walked ahead quickly while Shinji and Asuka set a slower pace. James had wondered about the first child ever since she'd charged the 14th Angel with an N2 mine. Walking past Asuka and Shinji James hurried to catch up to her.  
"Hey." He said when he caught up to her. Rei looked at him quickly before looking ahead again.  
"Hello Fifth Child." She said  
"Umm you can call me James if you want." James said  
"Then you can call me Rei." She said with no change in her voice.  
"Do you mind if I walk with you?" James asked after a couple seconds of awkward silence.  
"I do not mind." Rei said ending the conversation for good. James relaxed into the swift pace Rei walked at. After awhile he got bored and started sneaking glances at his walking companion, while she wasn't beautiful like Asuka or Misato there was something about her that drew James's eyes leaving him wondering why he'd never bothered to find out more about her earlier. It seems Rei had noticed his eyes as after about five minute James turned his head to steal another glance to find her looking at him, looking away quickly blushing James was about to say something but decided against it as he realised Rei hadn't seemed to mind. Walking underneath a sign hanging about a foot out if hands reach James jumped to tap it with his fingers.  
"Why did you do that?" Rei asked suddenly startling James.  
"Oh, just for fun I guess." James said. Rei looked ahead of her again with a thoughtful expression her face.

Arriving at NERV they found Misato waiting for them with a boy sporting an easy smile. They all stood awkwardly for a few seconds before Misato introduced him.  
"This is Kaworu Nagisa, he will be the Sixth Child." Misato said gesturing towards the boy.  
"Hello it's very nice to meet you all." Kaworu said smiling  
"Hello it's nice to meet you to" Shinji said smiling back.  
"Hey." Asuka said  
"Hello." Rei said in her flat emotionless voice.  
"...Hi" James said after a few seconds. He couldn't quite place it but something about Kaworu made James dislike him almost instantly and this feeling was only reinforced as he chatted with Shinji and Asuka while they walked to the Eva cages, his to easy smile and relaced posture irritating James.  
"We'll be testing you with all the Eva's as right now you're only a replacement pilot." Misato said as they walked into the observation room. Ritsuko looked up at the sound of her voice.  
"Ah it's good that you all made it. Kaworu you can go get changed into your plug suit and we'll start the testing right away." Ritsuko said to the boy slouching comfortably. Kaworu nodded and walked off. James leant back against a wall and folded his arms.

When he got back they started the tests in Unit-00. The tests went well with Kaworu scoring a decidedly average synch rate. Moving onto Unit-01 he scored significantly better, causing exclamations from everyone else and a scowl from James. In the process of moving to Unit-02 Asuka noticed James's face, walking up to him she punched him on the arm before speaking.  
"Is the pilot of the mighty Mächtige Zuschlag jealous of the Sixth Child?" She asked in a mocking tone.  
"No, I just don't like him." James replied.  
"I know that's just boy code for being jealous." Asuka said with a mischievous smile. James unfolded his arms to shove Asuka's head lightly. She scowled and hit him again before moving to stand next to Shinji again. James looked back at the screen displaying Kaworu's scores. He scored another average on Unit-02. While he was moving to Mächtige Zuschlag James spoke up.  
"Mächtige Zuschlag won't like him." He spoke up from the back of the room.  
"I think we'll let the scores say what they say." Ritsuko said leaning over to inspect something on one of the many screens around the room. James frowned at her uncharacteristic bitchiness before turning his head to look at his Eva as it was moved into position. Kaworu climbed in and true to James word his synch score was horrendously low.  
"Two..." Ritsuko said disbelieving.  
"I told you so." James said with a grin. Ritsuko sighed and stopped the testing. Shinji left to get a drink from one of the vending machines scattered around the building while the staff went over the data to ensure it was authentic. Asuka moved over to lean against the wall next to James.  
"How did you know he would score low with Mächtige Zuschlag?" She asked curiously  
"as I said before, because I don't like him." James said looking at her.  
"How does that affect it?" Asuka asked confused. James just winked at her cause her to glare at him. James just chuckled and pushed himself off the wall to talk to Misato.  
"Hey Major." James said  
"Yes James?" She asked curisouly  
"I'm just going to go home now but I just thought I'd tell you in case you need me for something." James told her. Misato thought for a few seconds.  
"No, you can go home but go straight home, no side trips." She said in an unconsciously motherly way. James executed a perfect yet somehow mocking salute.

On his way home James passed a small store he'd never seen before, looking through the window he saw a gold bracelet with a line of rubies set into it. It reminded him so much of Asuka that he went inside to check the price. The old woman at the counter smiled at him as he walked towards her.  
"Hey I was just wondering how much that gold bracelet in the window costs." James said gesturing in the general direction of the window.  
"Oh that one is very expensive, real gold and real rubies." The old woman said with a sad smile assuming James would never be able to afford it.  
"Yeah, but how much exactly?" James asked. He blinked a couple times when he was told the price but pulled out his wallet anyway. Placing the required notes on the counter he grinned at the old woman's expression.  
"I don't have a lot to spend money on." He said with a grin  
"I can see that...Oh yes that bracelet has a partner." The old woman said ducking below the counter to pull out a box, opening it she displayed a silver bracelet in the same style with blue sapphires instead of rubies. James was reminded instantly of Rei, it was almost as if these bracelets were made for Asuka and Rei.  
"I'll take it." James said pulling out more money.  
"Just how much money do you have?" The old woman asked suspiciously. James grinned before replying.  
"I work at NERV." He said. Understanding dawned on the woman's face and she hurried to fetch the bracelet from the window display. Setting it into a box matching the one the silver bracelet was in she handed both to him.  
"Thank you." James said as he left.  
"I hope she likes them." The old woman yelled just before the door closed. James chuckled before continuing home.


	11. Chapter 11

I know this is a couple days late (well later than normal) but I have a reason this time. A friend of mine introduced me to K-ON! and I kinda got distracted so yeah blame the kawaii anyway yeah chapter 11 just wrapping up the actual anime story line hopefully I don't do it to badly so you still actually want to read it afterwards but yeah chapter 11 enjoy read and review.

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James woke up with his face right against the wall. Rolling to the middle of his bed he sat up.  
"What the hell do I do when I'm sleeping?" He asked no one  
"Talk to yourself obviously, idiot." Asuka said from the doorway. James glared at her for a few seconds before remembering what he'd bought the day before.  
"Oh hey Asuka I have something for you" He said rolling out of his bed to grab one of the boxes he'd placed next to his bag. Opening it to make sure it was the right one he turned and handed it to Asuka. Asuka looked at him suspiciously at for a few seconds before opening it. She gasped as she saw the simple but beautiful bracelet.  
"Wha...but...why?" She eventually stuttered out to busy staring at the jewellery to think properly  
"Well I saw it and it reminded me of you, not like I have anything else to spend money on." James said with a small smile.  
"Well...thank you." Asuka said eventually.  
"No problem." James said before grabbing his school uniform.  
"Now move I need to shower." He said waving his arms at Asuka. Asuka stared after him for a few seconds before running to show Shinji her new bracelet.

James walked into the kitchen to find Asuka still staring at the bracelet, now on her arm. Chuckling he made a quick breakfast before leaving for school. Once they arrived at school James was pleased to notice Kaworu wasn't in their class. Looking over his shoulder he looked for Rei in her seat by the corner, after spotting her he realised he should have brought the bracelet he'd bought for her but he didn't dwell on it. Once the teacher walked in and they had completed the "Stand, bow, sit" ritual, which James found incredibly idiotic they all sat back to sleep through another boring lecture but the teacher started with something else.  
"Class, we have a new student coming in today." He said is his boring monotone. James sat up straight already dreading what would come next.  
"His name is Kaworu Nagisa and I expect you all to make him welcome." The teacher continued. James hung his head as Kaworu walked in with a confident smile. His good mood ruined James blocked out everything until the lunch bell rang. James stood up and looked towards Touji and Kensuke to see them glaring at something, following their gaze James found Shinji happily talking to Kaworu. James grimaced before walking over to talk to Touji and Kensuke.  
"Hey man." Touji said as James approached  
"Hey." James said in response as Kensuke nodded at him.  
"So what are your thoughts on the new kid?" James said after a few seconds  
"I don't like him." They both said simultaneously.  
"Join the club." James said  
"He a new pilot?" Kensuke asked. James nodded before replying  
"Yeah, apparently he's been sent in as a replacement if any of us can't fight but I don't see the point." James said Kaworu and Shini left the room.  
"You afraid of getting replaced permanently?" Kensuke asked with a grin. James laughed  
"Nah, he can't synch with my Eva so no chance of that." James said before he noticed the girl he knew only as "class rep". When he turned to look at her properly Touji and Kensuke noticed her as well.  
"Oh class rep did you need something?" Touji asked  
"I've told you to call me Hikari, and I brought you some lunch." She said with a shy smile.  
"Oh, thank you class...Hikari." Touji said as he took the bag Hikari was holding out. She smiled before walking away quickly to join Asuka at the door.  
"Lucky bastard." James said with a grin.  
"Huh what do you mean?" Touji said already opening the bag to let a delicious smell seep across the room. James sniffed appreciatively before answering  
"I wish I had a cute girl to bring me food that smells that good." He said leaning over to see what was in the bag. Touji pulled the bag away with a glare. James grinned at him before realising something  
"Hey you never did tell me how you survived Unit-03's...death" James said. Touji looked up surprised before thinking for a few seconds.  
"I don't actually know how I survived. I just woke up in hospital and they said everything was fine." Touji said slowly. James clapped him on the shoulder.  
"Well I'm glad you made it." He said with a grin before moving off to go eat lunch.

Walking out of the school with Shinji James stretched with a lot of groaning and sighing.  
"Was that really that satisfying?" Shinji asked with a grin.  
"Yes, yes it was." James said before spotting Misato waiting by her car. Walking towards her they both waved.  
"Hello you two, have you seen Asuka and Kaworu?" Misato asked as they neared  
"Asuka went to the mall with friends...don't know about Kaworu." James said with a shrug  
"Oh there he is, Kaworu!" Shinji said calling out and waving. James sighed heavily. When Kaworu walked over Misato ushered them all into the car.  
"Ok we need to go the mall to pick up Asuka." She said as she started the car  
"Why?" James said from the back.  
"Well Vergeltung arrived and we need to test it." Misato said. James winced at her pronunciation  
"Why? I mean I can carry Vergeltung and its ammo by myself...and we have Shinji anyway." James said confused. Misato thought for a few seconds.  
"You're right, but Shinji isn't going with you he's going to be showing Kaworu around NERV a bit more." Misato said pulling into the road.  
"Ok, I'll need something to carry Vergeltung's ammo in...unless you only want me to fire one or two shots." James said.  
"They arrived in a case so you can just carry that." Misato said. James nodded and sat back as far away from Kaworu as possible.

They arrived at NERV and James hurried to get changed. Walking to the Eva cages he saw Vergeltung ready to get set onto Mächtige Zuschlag. Grinning he ran over to get into the entry plug. Vergeltung was a single shot sniper rifle which fired its bullets faster than any other solid projectile weapon in existence. James lifted the box containing the ammo before moving out. Making the slow trek to the firing range alone was significantly more boring than the last time. James sighed with relief when he arrived to find a solid concrete block set up at the far end.  
"I'm guessing that's my target?" He asked  
"Yes, we will be testing its penetrating power by measuring how far the bullet goes until it stops." Ritsuko told him. James grinned only just managing to stop himself from laughing. He set the ammo box down and pulled out a bullet before stepping to the designated firing line. He loaded the bullet before taking aim. Supporting the long barrel with his right hand he breathed out slowly as he aimed manually.  
"You know you have computers that can calculate the shot for you?" Ritsuko said to him.  
"Yeah but it's not like it's a hard shot and I don't want to get rusty." James replied. Breathing out again he sighted the centre of the concrete block and pulled the trigger. The recoil moved Mächtige Zuschlag back but even though it used just under the amount of power of Vernichtung the prototype S2 engine didn't shut down leaving Mächtige Zuschlag standing. James looked towards the concrete block.  
"Can you move closer?" Ritsuko asked.  
"Ok but don't you have observation devices?" James said as he moved Mächtige Zuschlag forward.  
"Yes but they stopped responding when you fired." Ritsuko said. James chuckled as he bent forward to look through the hole the bullet had made.  
"I don't think you're going to get accurate measurements from this." James said with a grin. Ritsuko was speechless as she looked through the 20 metre concrete block and at the now somewhat battered hill several kilometres away.  
"The crater isn't as big but it's there." James said with a chuckle.  
"H...how?" Ritsuko said after a few seconds.  
"Well this bullet is less than half a metre wide but uses almost as much power as the five metre bullet of Vernichtung...it goes really really fast." James said chuckling again. James was moving back to fire another shot when Misato talked to him a panicked edge to her voice.  
"James get back to NERV now." She said quickly.  
"Why?" James said somewhat confused.  
"Kaworu is doing something strange, just hurry." Misato said. James started running pausing to pick up the ammo box. Skidding to an uncoordinated halt at the location of the elevator he'd ridden up he waited for about five seconds before losing patience.  
"I'm here, where's the damn elevator?" He yelled  
"We had to lock down the entire facility so we can't send an elevator up." Ritsuko said  
"Can't you get around it to send one up." James asked  
"Not without taking off the entire lockdown." Ritsuko replied  
"That's...quite a design flaw." James said slowly  
"We need to concentrate James so please be quiet." Ritsuko said. James sighed before loading another bullet into Vergeltung. Gun now loaded he sat and waited.

After only 15 minutes the elevator opened at James's feet. Standing up and grabbing the ammo box he stepped inside.  
"I'm guessing everything is sorted now." James said  
"Yeah, just put Mächtige Zuschlag back into her cage and report in." Misato said tiredly  
"Yes ma'am." James said.  
Arriving at the cages James noticed Unit-02 and Unit-01 weren't there. He decided to hold his questions until he'd gotten out of his Eva. Standing Mächtige Zuschlag is her cage he was about to release the clamps on Vergeltung when he remembered something.  
"Oh shit it's still loaded." He said before lifting his right hand to open the chamber and release the bullet.  
"You...you didn't unload it?" Misato said disbelievingly  
"I was distracted." James said defensively  
"With what?" Misato said  
"Uhh...I don't know." James said sheepishly  
"Just...don't do it again." Misato said with a sigh. James quickly got out of the plug and jogged to the command room still in his plug suit. Arriving he found everyone extremely subdued.  
"What happened?" James asked as he walked up to Misato  
"Kaworu was the last Angel, took over Unit-02 and almost killed us all." Misato said. James blinked slowly several times before replying.  
"What?"  
"Kaworu somehow took control of Unit-02 from the outside and almost killed everyone...if Shinji hadn't been here he would have succeeded." Misato replied  
"Ok." James said slowly  
"We need you to talk to Shinji. He's torn up about Kaworu but he won't talk to anyone about it." Misato said after a few seconds.  
"Ok." James said before following Misato to the locker rooms where Shinji was sitting on the floor holding his knees up to his chest. James gestured for Misato to leave before walking up and sitting next to Shinji.  
"Hey man." He said after Shinji finally tilted his head to look at him.  
"H...Hey." Shinji said  
"I heard what happened." James said which seemed to open something in Shinji as he started talking quickly.  
"How could he be the last Angel? He seemed so normal and he was nice to me and he said he loved me." Shinji managed to blurt out before crying into his arms.  
"He said what?" James said slowly  
"He loved me...and I loved him." Shinji said looking at James. James sneered before replying  
"No he didn't, he lied to you." James said angrily.  
"Yes he did, he didn't lie to me." Shinji replied getting angry as well.  
"You knew him for less than two days how can he love you after so short a time?" James said incredulously  
"I don't know but I loved him." Shinji said unfolding his arms and stared defiantly at James. James looked at him with disbelief.  
"How?" James asked again.  
"He just did." Shinji said standing up. James stood up to face him before replying.  
"No he didn't" He said  
"YES HE DID!" Shinji yelled before swinging a fist at James. James stood for a few seconds after Shinji had punched him before jabbing Shinji in the ribs causing him to stumble backwards coughing. Shinji growled before charging at James who kicked forward sending Shinji onto the floor trying to refill his lungs.  
"You really love him?" James said  
"Yes." Shinji said  
"Then stand the fuck up and fight for him." James said. Shinji struggled to his feet and stepped forward to get sent to the floor from a fist to the face. Shinji remained on the ground this time. James sat back down with a sigh.  
"I'm sorry Shinji, but you don't love him." He said leaning his head against the wall.  
"How can you know what I feel?" Shinji said angrily  
"Because if you really loved him we'd still be fighting." James said  
"How do you know?" Shinji said starting to feel his injuries.  
"If you love someone you never give up. That's how I've always seen it. Even if there's something you can't beat and you know you can't beat it you try anyway and you just keep trying and trying until you do or it goes away." James said looking over as Shinji tried to move before crying out in pain.  
"Oh shit did I break something?" James asked quickly crawling over to Shinji's side  
"I think so." Shinji said slowly  
"Fuck I'm sorry man." James said  
"It's ok...well not really but I think I understand why you did it." Shinji said after a few seconds  
"Heh its funny how we have these bonding moments directly after hitting each other." James said with a grin.  
"Yeah...can you go get someone to take me to hospital?" Shinji said glaring at James who promptly stood up and ran to find someone to call the medical personnel. Shinji was being loaded onto an ambulance when he noticed James told off by an apocalyptically pissed off Misato, the image of James standing scuffing his feet with his head hanging while Misato yelled at him loud enough for everyone within several hundred metres to hear made Shinji chuckle which in turn made him groan in pain as his broken ribs moved. Settling back he settled for an amused smile as he was driven to hospital.

James arrived home with Misato to get immediately attacked by Asuka who punched and slapped him several times before running back to her room. James sighed walked to his room grabbed a towel and had a very long shower.


	12. Chapter 12

So yeah sorry this is quite late stuffs been happening and I haven't been in the mood for writing but yeah here it is. any constructive criticism is welcome but please don''t hate without giving me a reason.

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James opened his eyes, sighed, grunted and levered himself up. Rubbing his head he looked around before standing up. He'd walked most of the way to the kitchen before he remembered he still had school today. He stopped, sighed and turned around to find his school clothes and a towel.

Sighing as he stepped into the shower James rested his head against the wall. After about five minutes of quiet contemplation he realised something.  
"I don't want to go back anymore." He told the air around him, a grin slowly formed on his face and it stayed there until he walked into the kitchen to glares that could strip the hide off a rhino.  
"Uhh...hello." He said after a few extremely awkward seconds, neither Asuka nor Misato acknowledged him so he made a quick lunch and left for school early.

Arriving at school he was surprised to find Touji shooting hoops. Walking towards him James waited until Touji turned to look at him.  
"Hey man." James said as Touji walked over.  
"Hey, I heard you beat up Shinji yesterday." Touji said  
"How the hell did you find out already?" James asked incredulously  
"I heard from Hikari who I'm assuming heard from Asuka." Touji said with a shrug  
"Ah, well it was...complicated." James said slowly.  
"Did it have to do with that Kaworu kid?" Touji asked as he walked back to the 3-point line to continue practicing. James followed him as he replied.  
"Yeah some bullshit about him loving Shinji and that went to Shinji's head and he thought he loved him back...and I proved him wrong." James said  
"Seriously? That's pretty messed up...Kaworu is dead now isn't he?" Touji asked  
"How did you know?" James asked  
"If he was alive you would have told me your plans to beat the fuck out of him by now." Touji said  
"True, but still kind of weird that you jumped to him being dead." James said  
"Well I'm not really meant to say anything but Asuka lets slip more details than she should." Touji said with a sly grin  
"Ah, well that makes sense then...so how do you play this game anyway?" James asked  
"What? You don't know how to play basketball?" Touji asked incredulously  
"Well no, we didn't exactly have time for leisure when I was growing up." James said dryly  
"Oh well I can teach you some basics right now if you want." Touji said  
"Ok cool." James walked forward to discover he was incredibly bad at basketball.

"I can't believe you are that bad at basketball." Touji said with a grin before shoving James lightly.  
"Shut up everyone is bad at first." James said defensively  
"Not that bad." Touji said laughing. James scowled at him before he noticed the glare of one still extremely pissed off female.  
"Uhh...Hello Asuka." James said slowly  
"It's nice to know you can still laugh while Shinji is in hospital." She said with a horrifyingly sweet smile. James looked behind him to see Touji and Kensuke on the other side of the room and still moving.  
"Uhh...I umm...I...have to go now." James said before bolting away. Stopping outside he gulped in great lungful's of air before leaning against a wall to calm his racing his heart. Touji and Kensuke found him there after completing their own escape.  
"That was one of the scariest things I've ever seen." James told them  
"Yeah, Asuka does that to people." Touji said  
"How though? She's so small but just that look made me think she was going to tear my throat out." James said slowly  
"No one knows man." Kensuke said sadly

James walked out of school after a short game of basketball to find Misato waiting by her car.  
"More tests?" James asked incredulously  
"No, I came here to ask if you wanted a lift to go and see Shinji." Misato said  
"Wait, you're not still mad at me?" James asked surprised  
"Well I went to see him earlier and he told me that you really didn't meant to and that you helped him see sense." Misato said with a slight amused smile at James's confusion.  
"Oh, well then I guess a lift would be…" James was interrupted partway through his sentence  
"What's he doing here." Asuka said  
"He's coming with us." Misato said  
"Why?" Asuka asked as she crossed her arms and prepared for a confrontation  
"Because I want to see Shinji to." James said tersely. Asuka scoffed but didn't say anything as she got in the car. James sat in the back before leaning his head back sighing. No one said a word as Misato drove them to hospital.

Arriving Asuka got out quickly and hurried ahead while James and Misato walked at normal pace. They arrived at Shinji's room to find Asuka had already gone in and was talking to Shinji. Shinji smiled as Asuka called him an idiot for picking a fight with someone like James. He looked over and waved when Misato and James walked through the door. James waved back as he walked forward.  
"Hey Shinji, you feeling better?" James said  
"Little bit but that's probably just the painkillers." Shinji said with a grin. James laughed as he stepped aside to let Misato through. While Misato talked to Shinji James looked around and was surprised to see Rei sitting in a corner.  
"Hello Rei." James said walking towards her.  
"Hello…James." Rei said looking up at him  
"How long have you been here?" James asked  
"Not long." Rei replied looking back at Shinji  
"Did you walk here right after school?" James said while looking around for a chair.  
"Yes." Rei said looking at James with a look as close to curious as she could get. James couldn't see anything close enough to warrant the walk to go and get it so he simply sighed and sat down on the floor with his back against the wall.  
"What are you doing?" Rei asked suddenly.  
"Uhh…sitting." James said confused.  
"Yes but why on the floor?" Rei asked  
"Oh, I'm too lazy to go and get a chair to sit down here." James said.  
"Then why don't you sit on a chair where it is?" Rei asked with just the barest hint of confusion in her voice and expression. James grinned at the first emotion he'd ever seen Rei show before replying.  
"Because I want to talk to you." He said  
"Why?" Rei asked still confused  
"Because it's good to know people you may have to trust your life to…and you're pretty cool to talk to." James said  
"Am I?" Rei asked after a few seconds thought  
"Yeah, you're different to everyone and it's nice for a change of pace." James said  
"Thank you." Rei said after a few seconds. James grinned at her out of place gratitude although he assumed she had only said it because she thought it was the correct response but didn't actually know why she had to say it. Rei noticed his grin but decided not to ask any further questions, instead choosing to think about what she'd learnt about the strange new boy in her life. James sneaked a glance at Rei as she looked at the ground thinking, he sighed and hung his head when he realised he forgot to bring her bracelet with him again. They sat there in silence while Asuka and Misato kept talking to Shinji about something James couldn't quite hear. After about five minutes James realised he was actually quite thirsty. Standing up he walked over to Shinji's bed.  
"Hey Shinji, are you allowed to drink whatever you want?" James asked  
"Uhh, yeah." Shinji said incredibly confused  
"Ok I'm going to go get some drinks so who wants what?" James asked everyone.  
"Can I have some canned coffee?" Shinji asked  
"I'll have that to." Misato chimed in. Asuka sneered at James before turning to Rei who James was surprised to find standing at his side.  
"I'll have a strawberry milk thanks Rei." Asuka said to the confused girl.  
"James asked the question should you not…" James interrupted the girl by grabbing her arm and walking her out of the room. One the way to the lobby and the closest vending machine Rei spoke up.  
"Why did Asuka tell me what she wanted?" She asked  
"Asuka and I aren't on best terms right now." James said. Rei didn't reply until they had reached the vending machine.  
"Why?" She said as James was selecting the drinks.  
"Because I'm the one who hurt Shinji." James said after the few seconds it took him to figure out what Rei was talking about.  
"Why did you hurt him?" Rei asked with the slightest hint of anger in her voice. James didn't notice the slight change in her voice as he was concentrating on trying to figure out which button was for strawberry milk.  
"Because he was being stupid about something that dumbass Kaworu said." James replied as he finally found the button he needed.  
"What did the Sixth Child say?" Rei asked after several seconds  
"Oh he told Shinji he loved him and Shinji being the way he is believed him and I didn't exactly approve so we got into a fight." James said straightening up. Looking at Rei he realised something.  
"Oh shit, what did you want?" James asked. Rei looked at him blankly so James pointed at the vending machine.  
"I do not know." Rei said after a few seconds. James sighed and hit the button for strawberry milk again. Collecting it he handed it to Rei before starting the walk back to Shinji's room. He had to pause several times to adjust his grip on the four drinks in his hands so Rei caught up with him quite easily.  
"Thank you, James." Rei said when she drew level with him.  
"No problem." James said as they reached Shinji's door. Rei opened the door for James as he walked in and handed everyone their drinks. He joined Rei back in the corner and had just stabbed his straw into his drink when Asuka spoke to him.  
"Strawberry milk? What kind of guy do you think you are?" She said with a sneer  
"Whats wrong with strawberry milk? It sounds like an awesome idea and I wanted to try it." James said defensively.  
"You've never had strawberry milk?" Asuka asked surprised  
"Oh yeah we totally had access to this kind of stuff in South Africa I just never bothered to try it." James said with extreme sarcasm. Asuka just glared at him before turning back to Shinji. James chuckled before noticing Misato was gesturing for them to leave. They gave Rei a lift showing James the hole where she lived. When they arrived home James grabbed a towel and went to have a shower but stopped to talk to Misato who was drinking a beer and watching TV.  
"Hey Misato." James said standing in the doorway  
"Yes James?" Misato said turning her head to look at him.  
"Why does Rei live in that hole by herself?" James asked  
"I don't know…I've never actually thought about it." Misato said after a few seconds thought.  
"If we had space here I'd say she should move in." James said before moving off.  
"Yeah…" Misato said softly, still thinking.


	13. Chapter 13

Ok well I felt bad about not updating for awhile so I decided I'd make sure to complete this one today. I was really tired when i wrote this so there are probably quite a few spelling/grammar mistakes but hopefully it's ok. Read and review. Enjoy

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James woke up and looked over at Shinji's bed to make sure he hadn't imagined Shinji coming home last night. After confirming Shinji's presence James sat up and stretched. It had been a tense few weeks with Asuka refusing to forgive James for hurting Shinji. Now that Shinji was back she had seemed to mellow significantly. James stood up slowly to go have a shower.

James walked into the kitchen to find Asuka sitting at the table looking around angrily.  
"There you are, where the hell is Shinji I need breakfast." She snapped at James as he walked through the door.  
"Well he did just get out of hospital so he's sleeping in." James replied  
"Well that was your fault so you have to make breakfast." Asuka said with a glare that promised murder if he didn't comply.  
"Ok chill I'll make something." James said holding up his hands defensively. As he turned to find something in the fridge he let the smile he'd been holding in cross his face, Asuka was wearing the bracelet he'd given her again. Finding a seemingly forgotten about pack of bacon James set to frying it up. Managing to not burn all the pieces James placed the best in front of Asuka with a slice of toast. Taking his own share James sat down and they ate in comfortable silence. They finished eating and James washed the dishes while Asuka wandered into the lounge. James followed her a few minutes later to find Misato talking to Asuka fully dressed.  
"Well someone has to…Oh hello James." Misato said as she noticed James waking towards them.  
"What does someone have to do?" James asked curiously  
"Wake Shinji up." Misato said  
"Why? No wait let me guess we're going to NERV?" James said with a sigh  
"Yeah, I don't know why but we need to head out soon." Misato said  
"Ok I'll go wake him." James said before walking towards his and Shinji's room. James walked up to Shinji James shook him lightly until he opened one eye sleepily.  
"Mmm, no stop it, no." Shinji said sleepily  
"I'm sorry man, we have to go, some bullshit at NERV or something." James said  
"Seriously?" Shinji groaned  
"Yeah seriously, we don't have long to hurry up…if you can." James said with a grin before grabbing a shirt and his shoes.

Arriving at NERV they were met by Ritsuko.  
"You're all going to go see the commander." She said by way of greeting.  
"Really?" Shinji asked unable to hide the excitement in his voice.  
"Yes, I don't know what he wants to talk to you about but it shouldn't take long." Ritsuko said as she led the way through headquarters. After an indiscernible amount of time an alarm rang out causing everyone to jump slightly.  
"What's happening?" Misato asked  
"I don't know." Ritsuko said before running off. They all followed her to the control room where everyone was in a panic.  
"What's happening?" Misato yelled at one of the tech staff.  
"We're being attacked." He yelled back.  
"What? By who?" Misato yelled incredulously  
"We don't know." The tech yelled as his fingers flew over the keys in front of him.  
"So I'm guessing you want us to get into our Eva's." James said to Ritsuk.  
"No they're already inside, we need you three to hide." She said staring at a screen in front of here.  
"Fuck that, give me a gun." James said  
"What?" Misato said over hearing the last bit.  
"I've been fighting since I was eight I probably have more experience than most of the people in this room." James said  
"He has a point." Ritsuko said after a few seconds. Misato stared disbelievingly for a few seconds before speaking.  
"Fine, we don't have much besides pistols and SMG's." She said as she turned away to open up a hidden locker in the wall. James looked over her shoulder to see a few assault rifles stashed neatly with ammo clips stacked beside them.  
"These'll do." James said as he reached in and grabbed one along with several clips of ammo. Loading it quickly he checked the sights before nodding in satisfaction. He was about to say something else when the first shot was fired into the room. Everyone ducked except James who simply flipped the safety off his gun and ran to the ledge to start firing back. Taking a peek over the edge he saw several soldiers moving along the wall trying to get to a flanking position. James brought his gun over and sent six bullets flying towards them, five of the soldiers fell causing the last one to start running.  
"Should have kept practicing." James muttered to himself as he dropped the last soldier with another shot. James ducked behind the wall again as a hail of bullets flew past him. Peeking back over the wall he noticed a large group of soldiers being pinned down by several NERV employees who didn't have the angle he did. James switched the selector to full auto and sent the rest of the clip into the crowd of soldiers. While he was reloading he noticed several NERV employees either lying still or clutching at non-lethal bullet wounds, he also noticed Asuka and Shinji crouching behind a wall. James ran over to them crouching low behind the wall.  
"Hey Shinji." He said as he slid in besides them. Shinji looked at him incredulous.  
"Ok I've noticed some people out there who are hurt so I'm thinking you and Asuka here can go and help them out a little bit." James said before noticing where the first aid kits where.  
"Fuck…" He said shortly  
"What?" Asuka asked surprised.  
"The first aid kits are right out in the open…why the hell are they all together like that anyway?" James shook his head to clear his thoughts.  
"Ok, I'll go get them…can either of you fire a gun?" James asked. When they both shook their heads he growled in frustration.  
"I'll go get the first aid." Shinji said suddenly.  
"What?" James said as his attention was dragged from the currently useless first aid kits.  
"I'll go get the first aid." Shinji repeated firmly. James looked at him for a few seconds before speaking.  
"Ok, we'll move along the wall until we have to move and when we get there I'll get their heads down while you run out there and grab as many as you can…we can only afford one trip." James said  
"Ok." Shinji said shortly before taking a deep breath and wiping his hands on his pants.  
"Please don't go." Asuka said suddenly from behind Shinji.  
"But we need to help those people." Shinji said  
"I know but…what if something happens?" Asuka said quietly  
"He'll be fine Asuka." James said with a smile.  
"Yeah I'll have our big bro protecting me." Shinji said  
"Ok." Asuka said finally. James nodded and he and Shinji ran to the point of cover closest to the first aid. James noticed Shinji was sweating slightly.  
"It's ok to be scared man." James told him.  
"You're not scared." Shinji said still staring hard at the normally very short space between him and the supplies that could potentially save lives. James smiled slightly  
"Yeah I am." He said softly. Shinji turned to look at him surprised.  
"Anyone who says they're not scared in a situation like this is either lying or insane." James said grimly. Shinji nodded slowly before looking back at the kits.  
"You ready?" James asked. At Shinji's nod he stood up and started firing at the enemy soldiers. When his clip ran out James reloaded quickly and started firing again. Glancing quickly at Shinji he saw him running back. He looked back at the enemy as his clip ran out again. He reloaded again and started shooting again. He heard a cry of pain behind him and turned to see Shinji falling behind him, his shoulder spilling blood. James turned back and shot the only soldier standing up several times before ducking back down to help Shinji. He dragged him the rest of the way into cover before ripping open one of the medkits and pulling out a bandage.  
"Sorry Shinji but this is gonna hurt like fuck." James said as he wrapped Shinji's arm tightly to stop the bleeding. Shinji cried out again but opened his eyes once James was done.  
"I did it." He said with a small smile.  
"Yeah you did." James said as he found the painkillers. Injecting them into Shinji he noticed Asuka by his side.  
"We have to move him back to where you were but then you'll need to go back out again." James told her. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes but nodded. They dragged him quickly to the safest spot in the room. Once he was settled as comfortable as possible James ran back to grab the rest of the first aid kits.  
"Ok Asuka what I want you to do is stay close to the wall and when you find someone who can still be helped drag them back here and patch them up as best you can. Asuka nodded before glancing involuntarily at Shinji.  
"You can't help him anymore but you can help them." James said grimly. Asuka nodded more firmly this time. James gave her a small smile before running back to his original position.

James looked around surprised as he realised that no one was shooting. Looking over the wall he saw that all the soldiers where either dead or lying on the floor groaning in pain. He looked over to see the few unhurt NERV employees had started to help Asuka tend to the wounded. James looked up as Misato approached him. She sat down wearily next to him.  
"You did well James." She said after a few seconds.  
"Everyone did well." James replied.  
"True." Misato said  
"Was that all of them or did we just make them fall back?" James asked.  
"I don't know." Misato replied moments before a low muffled boom was heard by everyone still alive. James sat up quickly.  
"Apparently not." James said as one of the tech staff rushed to a computer.  
"They're outside attacking with tanks!" He yelled to Misato.  
"Now it's time for the Eva's." Misato said before standing up to fetch Asuka. James sighed and let his head fall forward before standing up and running to the Eva cages. He found Mächtige Zuschlag surrounded by a hard red substance but the entry plug was still free. Running across the wavy surface James jumped into the plug and hit the manual entry button. As the plug slid home James wondered why it had been partially connected but shook those thoughts out of his mind as he settled in. Moments later the plug came to life as Ritsuko activated Mächtige Zuschlag. James grinned as he shattered the red substance around him with a casual flew of Mächtige Zuschlag's arms. Breaking a space around him he manually pulled down his two favourite weapons. Once everything was set he cleaved a path through to the main doors. Arriving there he realised he couldn't open them.  
"Uhh…shit." He said  
"Get out of the way, idiot." Asuka as she moved past him and started opening the doors. James stood back until he could fit a shoulder into the gap and start shoving one side open. When they had enough space the two Eva's stepped out to find ever gun in the Geofront pointed at them.  
"Uhh…" Was all James managed to say before they were bathed in fire. After about 30 seconds the enemy stopped firing to reveal two completely untouched Eva's.  
"Thank fuck for AT fields." James said before raising his guns and returning fire. Asuka sprang forward and proceeded to tear apart a unit of tanks unfortunate enough to be within her field of vision. James stepped forward to find more targets as he'd made short work of everything he could currently see, noticing a shadow on the ground he looked up to see nine shapes spiralling slowly to the ground.  
"What in the fuck?" James said confused.  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Asuka asked as she turned from crushing the last tank under Unit-02's fist.  
"Look up." James said. Asuka did so and let out a small gasp.  
"The Eva series has been completed." She murmured.  
"And they're not on our side, great." James said with a sigh before lifting Mächtige Zuschlag's arms to fire at the gliding Eva's. They broke from formation as one of them was torn apart. They flew to the ground quickly, forming a circle around James and Asuka.  
"Why as the side I'm on always outnumbered." James muttered with a sigh.  
"Because the good guys are always outnumbered." Asuka said. James chuckled before sending a bullet from Weltenbrechers into the head of one of the enemy Eva's. Asuka leapt at one of them and the battle started. James was standing still shooting any Eva's that came to close. He was doing well until one of them jumped on his back causing him to lose his balance and fall over, before he could recover two others jumped onto his arms pinning him to the ground while the original one pulled itself from underneath Mächtige Zuschlag. James growled as the first one brought its fist back and started to punch Mächtige Zuschlag repeatedly. James struggled but the weight of the Eva's and the guns was too much. Several seconds passed before the Eva holding down his left arm was tackled by a purple blur. James lifted his arm and placed the barrel against the head of the Eva punching him before pulling the trigger. The Eva went flying backwards and James shoved Weltenbrechers into the chest of the Eva still holding onto him and fired several rounds into it, completely destroying the core and causing it to explode. Struggling to his feet James looked around and noticed the Eva he had shot out of the sky standing up.  
"Uhh…these Eva's don't like dying." James said before shooting the Eva again.  
"What do you mean?" Asuka said after breaking an Eva's back over her knee.  
"The one I shot out of the sky is standing up again." James said as he shot it yet again.  
"Destroy the cores!" Shinji yelled. James blinked a few times wondering why he hadn't thought of that before firing another shot straight into the chest of an approaching Eva causing it to fly backwards before blowing up.  
"That works." He said shortly before realising he had run out of ammo in Weltenbrechers. He dropped the gun and ammo box before stepping forward to slam Mächtige Zuschlag's fist into the face of a charging Eva, standing over it he fired into its chest with Dreizack until he hit the core. Grinning at the explosion he turned just in time to get tackled by the last Eva. Tumbling with it he managed to get on top. Dropping Dreizack he held it down with his left hand and started slamming his fist into its face.  
"Uhh…James…that's the last one so can you kill it now." Shinji said after a minute or two.  
"Oh…ok then." James said before standing up and crushing its core beneath Mächtige Zuschlag's foot.  
"Now what?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.  
"Get the Eva's back into the cages and come to the control room." Ritsuko said over the intercom.

James sighed as he, Shinji and Asuka walked into the control room.  
"So how did you pilot with a hole in your shoulder?" James was asking Shinji as they walked through the door.  
"Well Misato said you and Asuka might need help so I just tried to ignore the pain." Shinji replied slowly.  
"Ok well you're officially tougher than me then." James said slapping Shinji on his unhurt shoulder.  
"But you've been shot more times than me." Shinji replied  
"Yeah but I never kept fighting afterwards." James replied with a grin. Shinji smiled at James's praise. Ritsuko and Misato and the few surviving members of the NERV staff where waiting for them.  
"We have emergency vehicles on the way, Shinji, you'll be taken with the rest of the wounded, James, we need you to stay here and help search for anyone." Ritsuko. Shinji nodded tiredly while James headed off to join the group of the most able bodied staff.  
"What about me?" Asuka asked from Shinji's side.  
"Oh well…you can go with Shinji if you want." Misato said  
"Ok." Asuka said with a nod.

James looked back and saw Asuka helping Shinji walk even though he really didn't need it. James chuckled before turning back and heading into the corridors of NERV.


	14. Chapter 14

Ok chapter 14 this will be the last one before there's a 2 year break in universe to set up what happens next. If you're still reading this, thank, thank you very much, and hopefully this is where it'll get good...unless my AU sucks but meh. Read review and enjoy

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James smiled gratefully as Misato handed him a steaming mug.  
"I've never seen you drink coffee so I decided to be safe with tea." She said sitting down next to James.  
"Thank you." James said, taking a fortifying sip.  
"Have you slept yet?" Misato asked after a few seconds.  
"No." James replied with a tired grin.  
"You should have." Misato chided him gently.  
"Yeah well when I got back from searching for people someone needed my help moving something and since then I've always been needed for something." James replied. Misato smiled gently at him.  
"Well go home now, even you need to sleep sometime." Misato said  
"Yeah I think I will…any chance of a ride from someone? I don't think I'm up for walking right now." James said before yawning hugely.  
"There should be someone." Misato said standing up slowly. James quickly downed the rest of his tea before following. They eventually found Maya being cajoled by Ritsuko to go home. Maya was happy to take James home as they lived fairly close to each other. Once they arrived James got out of the car slowly to find Maya standing there.  
"I…I." She managed to stutter out before embracing him impulsively.  
"I just wanted to say thank you for saving everyone." She said when she stepped backwards.  
"But I didn't save everyone." James said his tired brain still confused as to why she had hugged him. Maya smiled at the completely uncomprehending expression on his face. When Maya had left James stood outside for several seconds still confused.  
"I don't even…" James sighed and headed inside to fall onto his bed fully clothed.

He woke up that afternoon to find Asuka standing over him.  
"Hurry up and get out of bed dumbass it's already three in the afternoon." She said before walking out of his room. James rolled over onto his stomach to push himself up. Grumbling he grabbed a towel and went to have a shower. Walking into the lounge he found Asuka watching TV.  
"How's Shinji?" James asked as he sat next to her.  
"He's ok." Asuka said after a few seconds.  
"Well that's go…" James was interrupted by Asuka flinging her arms around him.  
"I was so scared, when he fell over on his way back I was just so scared." Asuka cried into James's shoulder. James was surprised at this display of any emotion other than anger, recovering from his shock he gently put his arms around Asuka and held her until she had stopped crying. She drew back wiping her eyes.  
"I was scared too." James told her with a sad smile.  
"You didn't look scared." Asuka said. James chuckled  
"Shinji said almost the same thing, but no I was scared he'd die, and it would have been my fault, just yeah, you and him are the two best things in my life right now." James said blushing slightly at the end. Asuka gave him a rare smile before standing up.  
"Want to go see him?" Asuka asked  
"Yeah sure just let me get dressed." James said as he levered himself off the couch.

Arriving at the hospital the saw Misato walking in the same direction they were.  
"Hey Misato." Asuka called out to get her attention. Misato turned and waved before walking over to them.  
"You guys here to see Shinji to?" She asked as she neared  
"Yeah…you still haven't slept yet have you?" James asked her.  
"I had a nap for a couple of hours." Misato said. James just shook his head with a smile. Following the two of them he noticed someone out of the corner of his eye. Stopping suddenly he spoke up  
"Hey you two go on ahead I'll walk with Rei." He said to them. Asuka looked around until she spotted the blue haired girl.  
"Alright whatever go talk to the doll then." Asuka said dismissively before walking off. James looked after her puzzled before jogging over to Rei.  
"Hey Rei." He said as he approached.  
"Hello…James." She said in response.  
"You here to see Shinji?" James asked the first thing that came to his mind after a few seconds of awkward silence.  
"Yes, and the commander." Rei said quietly.  
"The commander is here? I've never actually seen him yet." James said  
"Yes." Rei said still walking. James followed her past Shinji's room assuming she must want to visit the commander first.  
"Do you mind if I come with you?" James asked  
"I do not." Rei replied. James accepted that and followed her into to a room at the other end of the corridor. James knew he was going to die less than 15 seconds after entering the room, one glance over the numerous bullet wounds and he knew that the commander would be dead before the day was finished. Amazingly he was still conscious as he turned his head to look at Rei as she stood at the side of the bed. James moved away as they started to talk not wanting to intrude on their conversation. After several minutes of waiting patiently James heard a voice come from the bed.  
"Fifth Child, come here." The commander said just loudly enough for James to hear. James walked over to find that the commander's wounds were even worse than he thought.  
"Rei, can I talk to the Fifth Child alone." Even though he phrased it as a question it came out more like an order. Rei obediently moved away and the commander looked back at James.  
"I know I'm dying, I know what you can do, I have one more order for you. Once you are done here find Doctor Katsuragi and ask her about SEELE, and then I want you to find them and kill them." The commander said this all slowly as his life slowly slipped away.  
"Why?" James asked suspiciously.  
"Because they are the cause of all…of most of this." The commander corrected himself after several seconds.  
"Ok, I'll ask Ritsuko about it…after that I can't say but if what you say is true I'll find them." James told him.  
"Good." The commander closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them and looking at James with the most intense look James had ever received.  
"One more thing, this isn't an order but I ask this of you, protect Rei and Shinji, protect them better than I could." The commander said before relaxing completely. James stood back to leave him at peace for his final moments, looking over at Rei James wondered why he'd asked him to protect her when from what he'd been told he'd never flinched at sending her or Shinji into battle. James frowned slightly before moving to Rei's side.  
"Want to go see Shinji now?" He asked her  
"Yes." She replied quietly. James walked alongside her as they walked to the door, pausing to let Rei through first James looked back to see the commanders heartbeat begin to slow down. James quickly followed Rei and shut the door firmly behind him, by the time medical personnel had rushed to his room James was already opening the door to Shinji's room for Rei.

James followed Rei in to find Shinji lying on a bed surrounded by beautiful females. James smiled shaking his head.  
"Lucky bastard." He muttered under his breath before moving to talk to Shinji.  
"Hey Shinji, you seem to be doing better." James said as he walked over.  
"Yeah they took the bullet out and stitched it up and everything, all I have to do now is not move it." Shinji said with a smile that could only be induced by strong painkillers. James chuckled before replying  
"Well make sure you don't then, don't know how we'll survive having to cook for ourselves again." James said with a grin. Shinji chuckled before getting distracted by Asuka talking to him. James took the opportunity to get Misato's attention before gesturing to the door. Once they'd closed the door Misato turned to James with a questioning look.  
"I'm fairly sure that the commander is dying if not already dead." James said bluntly  
"How do you know?" Misato asked after her initial shock  
"Anyone who gets shot that many times is going to die sooner or later…and he was slipping when Rei and I left." James said  
"Ok then, I don't think we can tell Shinji right now." Misato said with a tired sigh  
"Why not?" James asked curiously  
"Oh you don't know do you…the commander is Shinji's father." Misato said. James blinked several times before replying.  
"Ok then, yeah, shit." James said slowly. They stood their silently for a few seconds before Misato turned and walked back into Shinji's room. James followed her in to find Shinji looking at him.  
"Rei just said that you two went to visit my father, is he ok?" Shinji asked him.  
"Uhh yeah he was fine when we left." James was a bad liar but Shinji believed him. After another half an hour they said goodbye to Shinji and walked to the car. Once they reached it Asuka stopped moving causing James to look at her questioningly.  
"You coming Asuka?" James asked confused  
"I…I think I want to go home." Asuka said after a few seconds  
"We are going home." James said his confusion growing.  
"I mean I want to go back to Germany." She said  
"What? But why?" James asked  
"Well we're done right? We've beaten all the Angel, we saved everyone, and just being here, I can't stop remembering all the bad things that have happened." Asuka said  
"But…but what about all the good things?" James asked a note of pleading entering his voice  
"I'm sorry James, I just can't stay here." Asuka said sadly.  
"But…but…I…no" James said before losing his battle with the tears that began to run down his face. Asuka gently put her arms around him as he sobbed brokenly into her shoulder.  
"Hey it'll be ok, you'll still have Shinji here, and Misato, and even Ayanami." Asuka said soothingly. James slowly pulled away.  
"But I don't want you to go." He said sadly.  
"It's not like I'll be out of your life completely, you can come visit and we can call each other all the time." Asuka said. James was silent for a long time before replying.  
"Ok…I guess I can't ask you to stay somewhere that's hurting you." James said sadly while wiping his eyes. Asuka gave him another short hug before turning to Misato who just shrugged her shoulders  
"It's your decision, but when are you going to tell Shinji?" Misato asked.  
"Later." Asuka said after a few seconds thought. They all climbed in the car to go home.

James walked out the shower to find Asuka one the phone talking to her father. James blinked back tears before heading to his room to exercise until his arms and legs felt like they were about to fall off.

A week later Shinji, James and Misato stood watching Asuka's plane fly off into the distance. James had spent the three hours prior trying to prepare himself but still couldn't hold back a few tears which he quickly wiped away. He looked at Shinji, who was in the middle of a similar process, James clapped him on his uninjured shoulder before walking back to the car, Shinji stayed for a few more minutes before following.

A week after that the entirety of NERV stood watching as Gendo Ikari's body was lowered into his grave. Shinji was the only one who cried. Once the ceremony was over the crowed slowly dispersed as each member wondered what would happen now, James walked over to Shinji and Misato as he cried into her shoulder. He arrived just in time to hear.  
"I want to leave." Shinji said as he lifted his head to look at Misato.  
"What do you mean leave?" James asked slowly, his mind already struggling to stay together.  
"I want to go far away, away from NERV, away from everything here!" Shinji said fiercely  
"But…but…no." James said with a sense of Déjà vu .  
"I'm leaving and no one is going to stop me." Shinji said firmly, ignoring the pain on James's face. Shinji wiped his eyes quickly before walking away leaving James standing there unable to comprehend what was happening. Misato hurried after Shinji leaving James by himself his brain slowly forcing him to realise what was happening.  
"James?" Said a flat emotionless voice behind him. James turned towards Rei slowly  
"They're…everyone…everyone is leaving." James said slowly his eyes slowly filling with tears.  
Rei stared at him blankly for a few seconds before replying.  
"I am still here." She said moments before James was crying into her shoulder. Rei was unsure of the correct social etiquette in this situation so she simply stood still while James drenched the shoulder of her school uniform.

Another week and James and Misato stood watching Shinji's train slowly pull away. Once it was gone Misato turned to James with tears in her eyes.  
"Are you going to leave me to?" She asked quietly. James looked at her for a few seconds before replying with a sigh.  
"No, I have nowhere else to go…guess it's just you me and PenPen for a while." James said sadly. Climbing into the front of Misato's car James realised something.  
"This is the first time I've ever sat at the front." He said slowly. Misato smiled sadly at him without saying anything. On their way home James looked out the window and figured out what to do next.

James woke up late the next day and immediately curled into a ball trying not to cry. Eventually regaining control he got up slowly before taking a short shower. Forcing himself to act and not to think he made a quick breakfast before leaving a badly written not telling Misato he'd be back later. James jogged all the way to NERV trying to keep his mind from wandering. Arriving he went straight to the control room where he knew he would find who he was looking for. Finding Ritsuko's blonde hair was easy and James was soon standing in front of her.  
"The commander told me to ask you about SEELE." He said  
"Why?" Ritsuko asked, curious as to why Gendo Ikari had told this boy about them  
"He wants them dead." James said  
"And you're just going to follow his orders blindly?" Ritsuko asked  
"No, if I go to kill them or not will depend on what you can tell me." James said. Ritsuko sighed before gesturing for him to follow her. Entering her office Ritsuko walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a drawer to pull out a key. Walking to the back wall she removed a small whiteboard covered in equations to uncover a small safe, she opened it slowly before extracting several thick documents.  
"This is everything NERV knows about SEELE." She said as James picked one up. Opening one James looked at it for about three seconds before looking back up.  
"I can't read this." He told her  
"You can't read?" Ritsuko asked incredulously  
"No, Asuka was teaching me but it was slow." James said before blinking back sudden tears.  
"Fine I'll read them to you, you'll need NERV's help to find them." Ritsuko said as she took the file from his hands.  
"You seem sure I'll want to kill them." James said curiously.  
"I know a little about them." Was all Ritsuko said. James nodded once before finding a chair to sit on to listen to Ritsuko. One more week later and Mächtige Zuschlag was being flown to Egypt with Vergeltung attached to her arm and one bullet loaded into the chamber.

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TheFallenOne: Thanks for the review, and yeah I wasn't the happiest with those chapters but if it gets better then awesome :P, and yeah relationships are more gonna be James is a big bro which you would have already read. So yeah thank you and I hope you keep reading/reviewing cause I need all the feedback I can get.

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forgot to say this earlier but I won't be writing what happens in the 2 years into the main story but if you want I can attempt to write it in a seperate chapter set if you all wanna hear about SEELE getting their asses pimp slapped by a 45 metre tall killing machine XD just review or PM me and if i get enough (which will be like 2 :P) ill try write it.


	15. Chapter 15

So chapter 15, first chapter of the AU, everything (or at least everything I think is confusing) well be told straight next chapter. yeah hope you like it and don't be afraid to review, as long as it's not pointless flaming with no actual constructive criticism I'll let it through.

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James looked down the scope of the sniper rifle he'd been lying behind for the last hour.  
"I still don't understand why we couldn't have done this with Mächtige Zuschlag." He said annoyed.  
"Because if we had arrived in our Eva's he would have disappeared long before we could get to him." Rei said from beside him.  
"Yeah I guess, still sucks we couldn't get a clean sweep." James said with a sigh  
"What do you mean by 'Clean Sweep'?" Rei asked confused  
"Well we killed the other 11 with our Eva's but this one means we didn't kill all of them like that." James tried to explain.  
"I do not understand." Rei sounded even more confused.  
"Never mind I can't explain it very well, there's movement." James quickly looked down the scope again as the door he was aiming at opened slowly. A man's head appeared, clad in white hair.  
The man glanced around. James confirmed his identity before exhaling and gently squeezing the trigger on his rifle. It took less than a second for the bullet to find its target. James watched with satisfaction as the man's head turned into a red paste on the wall behind him.  
"James?" Misato's voice came out of his earpiece.  
"Yes Misato?" James asked looking at Rei to see she was hearing this to.  
"Something's come up so we need to bring you home early." Misato said  
"Ok but why?" James asked curiously  
"I can't discuss it over this just get home quickly." Misato said  
"How quickly is quickly?" James said with a grin at Rei  
"Well a jet's already there so, now." Misato said after a few seconds.  
"Well we just killed the last member of SEELE so that won't be a problem." James said with a chuckle  
"Oh, that was fast." Misato said surprised.  
"Well Rei did set everything, all I needed to do was be where she needed me to be and pull the trigger." James said with a wink at Rei, her puzzled expression forced him to suppress a laugh.  
"Oh yeah we'll need Rei to." Misato said quickly  
"Well yeah, I had assumed." James said slowly  
"Well don't forget to tell her." Misato said  
"She's right here…but yeah we're leaving now." James said before cutting the link.  
He turned to look at Rei only to find her standing with her arms crossed hugging herself with her head down.  
"Why do they always forget about me?" She asked quietly. James walked over to her and enfolded her in a gentle hug.  
"They're just not used to it yet." He said gently while stroking her hair. After a few seconds Rei pulled away, James gave her a small smile before turning to pack up the gun and leave.

Arriving at their hotel James and Rei took the stairs rather than get stuck in a crowded elevator with a suspiciously long case. Arriving at their room James unlocked it and entered to quickly pack the same duffel bag he'd had on his first day in Japan. Rei had packed even more minimalist than he had so they were packed and walking out the door less than five minutes after entering. They walked out of the front door of the hotel to find a car very conveniently waiting for them. They climbed into the back quickly and it pulled away into traffic.  
"First Child, Fifth Child." The driver said calmly  
"Kaji." James said in reply. Kaji grinned as he drove.  
"Misato sent me to make sure you guys stay out of trouble." Kaji said with a sly smile. James couldn't help but chuckle at his sly implication, even though Kaji's attitude towards life annoyed James he still enjoyed Kaji's company. About halfway to the airport James pulled out his phone to deal with his last bit of business for the day, scrolling down to Misato's number he selected it to start typing a message.

_"You forgot something very important today." _James hit send  
_"What was It" _Misato's reply had no punctuation as always_  
"I'll let you think about it, you have until we get back to Japan"_James sent

James sat back and waited, about half an hour later, just before they started boarding the plane he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket

"_I forgot about Rei again I'm sorry James " James just shook his head before replying  
"Don't apologise to me, I'm not the one you're making feel like they don't exist"_James sent_**  
**__"I said I was sorry" _Misato sent back, James took a deep breath before replying  
_"It's ok, just yeah she needs to see people care about her"_He sent back_**  
**__"I'll try"_ Misato's reply took a few seconds_  
"Good"_ James sent back immediately

James sighed as he turned off his phone, walking over to take his seat next to Rei, once he sat down he gave her hand a small squeeze, Rei turned to give him and gave him a small smile which made James smile back without anything remotely resembling thought.

Three quarters of the way through the flight Rei looked over at James to see him curled up into a ball sleeping, when he shivered slightly she unfolded the blanket he'd forgotten about and placed it over him, the sight of a large, scarred 16 year old boy snuggling into a blanket was enough to make her smile, and then spend the rest of the flight thinking about the feelings he made her feel.  
"I need to ask Misato." She said quietly to herself as the plane started descending.

Once the plane had landed they de-boarded with James sleepily smoothing his hair. Misato was waiting for them with her car.  
"Good morning." Misato said as they approached  
"Good morning Vice-Commander" Rei said respectfully  
"Good m…" James was interrupted by a yawn causing him to just wave the rest of his greeting.  
"You can just call me Misato, every other pilot did." Misato said to Rei  
"Yes Vice…Misato" Rei said her name slowly. Misato gave her a not to forced smile before gesturing towards the car. Once they were in the car James spoke up.  
"So what's this problem we have?" James asked curiously  
"Still not secure enough." Misato said shortly.  
"Seriously?" James asked  
"Seriously" Misato replied. James stared at her a few seconds before letting his head fall down as he lay down on the back seat. When his head hit something a lot softer than a car door he looked up.  
"Rei…why aren't you in the front seat?" James asked, his tired brain unable to comprehend why she wouldn't be.  
"I thought you would wish to sit there." Rei replied  
"Oh…" James said before shuffling forward and resting his head on Rei's leg before yawning, Rei sat completely still unsure of what to do. James realised this after about 30 seconds, spinning around quickly he looked up at Rei  
"Are you ok with this?" He asked  
"I…uhh…I…" Rei said trying to decide. James sat up quickly  
"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking and yeah." James hung his head in shame  
"It's ok, it just took me by surprise." Rei said after a few seconds thought. James smiled at her before leaning up against his window to sleep like that. Rei looked at him a few seconds her confusion about her feelings escalating. With a sigh she leant back and closed her eyes. Misato sat in the front seat with a small smile on her lips.

They arrived at NERV to be greeted by Ritsuko who quickly led them to her office. Arriving she shut the door firmly before walking to the safe behind the whiteboard and extracting a substantial looking folder. She handed it to James wordlessly, he opened it quickly to find almost all of it was just pictures upon pictures, James looked for several seconds before realising what he was looking at  
"Are these…Eva?" He asked slowly  
"Yes, they're orbital shots of what appears to be at least six different Eva 'factories' for lack of a better term." Ritsuko said indicating the large plain buildings present in several of the photos.  
"But Eva's take a long time to build don't they?" James asked as he looked back down at the one photo showing a complete Eva.  
"It appears the Americans have found a way to lessen the time and cost." Misato said from her position leaning against a wall. James went back to studying the pictures intently, passing them to Rei when he was done with each one.  
"They look smaller than our Eva's" Rei spoke up. James leaned over to see the picture she was holding which showed the upper portion of an Eva next to a worker.  
"Yes, from what we've been able to work out these Eva's are between 25 and 30 metres tall." Ritsuko said  
"So ten metres shorter than ours." James said absentmindedly as he picked up the photo of the full Eva again.  
"Unit-00 or Mächtige Zuschlag could crush these with ease." James said after a few seconds.  
"Yes, but there are a lot more than one or two." Ritsuko told him  
"How many?" Rei asked quietly.  
"From what our operative could uncover, about 300 with more being made every few months." Misato spoke up again. James sat back slowly.  
"Do we know what they're building them for or are we just preparation for anything?" He asked after several seconds of thought  
"Just preparing for anything." Ritsuko said  
"We're going to need more than just me and Rei, we could probably hold off an attack but they could get around two of us easily." James said already thinking about what he needed to do.  
"That's the other reason we brought you back…we need the second and third children." Misato said  
"Yeah, I'm guessing we're leaving tomorrow?" James asked  
"Yes, rest while you can." Misato said. James nodded before standing up to open the door for Rei.  
"Thank you." Rei said as she walked out, following her James was lost in thought until he walked into a wall when he forgot to turn a corner. Rei's soft giggle caused him to mock glare at her.  
"I'm glad you can laugh." He said as he rubbed his head. Rei stopped laughing suddenly as she remembered something  
"I'm sorry I forgot to ask Misato something, I will meet you at home later." She said quickly  
"I can wait." James said with a smile  
"No, It will probably take a while." Rei said almost too quickly. James looked at her confused for a few seconds before giving up and waving his hand in defeat.  
"Fine, what do you want for dinner?" He asked  
"Anything without meat." Rei replied before walking back the way she came. James continued on his way grumbling about Rei's vegetarianism.

Rei almost ran back to Ritsuko's office to arrive just in time to catch Misato walking out.  
"Oh Rei, did you forget something?" Misato asked confused  
"No Vice-Com- I mean Misato, I need to speak to you." Rei said slightly out of breath.  
"To me? What for?" Misato asked confused  
"Just…about…emotions." Rei said slowly  
"Ok, let's go to my office so we can sit down." Misato said after a few seconds. Arriving Misato shut the door behind them before gesturing for Rei to sit down, taking her own seat she looked at Rei before speaking.  
"So what did you want to talk about exactly?" She asked  
"I do not know, everything confuses me and I don't know what to do." Rei blurted out.  
"You only have about another week until you're completely off your old medication right?" Misato asked her  
"Yes, I'm almost…normal." Rei said slowly, Misato smiled at her  
"I'm not complaining but why don't you talk to James about this? You certainly know him better and he's helped you before." She said her smile turning sly. Rei blushed slightly  
"He…he's part of it" Rei said after a couple of seconds.  
"In what way?" Misato asked  
"He treats me differently than anyone else ever has…even Shinji." Rei said  
"Well he has spent more time with you than anyone else, and he's been here through the crossover process, Shinji only knew you when you're emotions were blocked." Misato reasoned.  
"I guess that's a good explanation." Rei said thoughtfully.  
"With James treating you differently, how is he different?" Misato asked, really getting into her temporary psychologist role.  
"Well, he's always smiling at me, and he hugs me a lot, and he always seems to understand." Rei said slowly. Misato thought for a few seconds before replying  
"How does that make you feel?" Misato asked  
"Warm, protected, happy." Rei said slowly a slight blush on her cheeks.  
"Well I don't see a problem." Misato said  
"No, I think talking to you helped me figure it out." Rei said after a few seconds of thought  
"Well that's good, and I'm happy to talk again if you need." Misato said. Misato watched as Rei left her smile transforming into a grin as a thousand situations ran through her head.

Rei arrived at Misato's old apartment to find James sitting on the couch. She joined him before speaking.  
"I thought you were making dinner." She said calmly  
"Well, I was, but then I gave up." James said with a lazy smile  
"So you expect me to make it?" Rei said quite annoyed. As she finished the doorbell rang  
"No I don't." James said with a grin before standing up and walking to the door. He returned carrying a flat cardboard box.  
"You ordered a pizza?" Rei asked  
"Yup, vegetarian just for you." James said as he opened the box with a flourish. Rei smiled as James placed the box between them as he sat down.  
"I really need to figure out a way to get you eating meat." James said as he took a bite and grimaced slightly  
"Why?" Rei asked curiously  
"Because meat is amazing but I'm too lazy to cook separate things when it's my turn." James said as he wolfed down another slice.  
"You don't seem to mind the pizza." Rei said with a chuckle  
"Because I'm hungry." James said before quickly finishing his half.  
"Anyway I'm going to have a shower now." He said as he walked out of the room. Once Rei heard the water start running she sighed heavily.  
"I need to talk to Misato again." She told the air around her.

* * *

Before anyone gets mad, I didn't choose Americans to be the enemy because I don't like them. I chose them because of their strategic position as well as their manpower and resources. At least to me, no other country would be able to pull this off. Anyway yeah that's it :P


	16. Chapter 16

Ok I'm pre sure there's some serious OOC at the end but I couldn't think of a better way of doing it, if any of you can think of a way PM me and I'll be happy to hear what you have to say. Other than that read, review and enjoy.

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James and Rei sat talking in the back of the car that Kaji was driving through quiet German streets.  
"I'm surprised she doesn't live with her parents." James said as he checked the address again even though he couldn't read it.  
"From what Misato has told me, Asuka's relationship with her parents is, strenuous, at best." Rei said.  
"Well I guess that makes sense…seems having parents isn't necessarily better." James said with a grin  
"I don't understand." Rei said with a confused frown which James found quite cute.  
"Well neither of us had parents, me because I was, forcibly adopted, and you because, yeah you know why but we're both alright, I mean we have our issues like everyone does but we're fine while almost all of Asuka's and Shinji's problems have a root with their parents." James paused to gasp in several deep breaths. Rei smiled at James amusing ramblings before replying slowly  
"I think that having parents would be better, Shinji and Asuka's relationships with their parents are not normal ones, the events in their lives have changed that forever." James lifted a hand to reply before stopping and lowering it slowly as he thought hard for a comeback.  
"We're here." Kaji said from the front.  
"Thank you Kaji, remember if we can't convince her you might be able to." Rei said  
"I know, I'll be right here if you need me." Kaji said with a relaxed grin. James climbed out of the slowly before Kaji heard him mumble  
"Why are woman always right." Kaji chuckled before leaning back and rehearsing the speech he'd prepared.

James ran his hand through his hair before ringing the doorbell nervously. Instead of being greeted by a beautiful red-haired girl the face James looked into belonged to a rather frail looking young man.  
"Good morning sir, does Asuka Langley Sohryu live here?" James said  
"What do you want with her?" The man's voice was distinctly unpleasant when combined with his heavy German accent.  
"We're old friends of hers, if she's home we would like to speak with her." James said while forcing a polite smile onto his face.  
"I'll go get her, she probably won't want to speak to you." The man said as he turned around and shut the door. James smile dropped instantly.  
"I used to think German was the best language in the world, I…I was very very wrong." He said with a pained look on his face.  
"I think, he could make any language sound bad." Rei said with the exact same expression. James nodded slowly before speaking.  
"I wouldn't want to hear him speak Japanese that's for sure."  
"Hey you guys ok?" Kaji said from the car.  
"Yeah he's going to go find her." James replied  
"Ok I'll be here." Kaji said before rolling the window back up. James turned back as Asuka opened the door.  
"YOU DON'T FUCKING CALL FOR TWO YEARS AND THEN YOU JUST SHOW UP ON MY DOORSTEP?!" Asuka screamed into James' face. James blinked a few times before replying with a bowed head.  
"You're right, this is rude of us and I apologise, and I'm sorry I didn't call, I really meant to but yeah, the only excuses I can give are that at first I was so depressed I literally exercised until I passed out every night and after that, I was busy." James stared hard at the ground scuffing his feet.  
"What the hell were you doing that you couldn't fucking call me? Neither did Shinji actually." Asuka had calmed down after her initial explosion but she was still pissed off.  
"We were hunting down SEELE." Rei spoke up before James opened his mouth  
"I wasn't talking to you, stupid doll." Asuka basically spat. James straightened up in a natural defence movement but before he could say anything Rei spoke back.  
"I'm aware of that Sohryu but I'm here with James and I want my voice to be heard." She said standing up straight to stare Asuka in the eye, James blinked slowly several times trying to contemplate what exactly had just happened while Asuka was so shocked all her anger had evaporated.  
"Wha…what the hell happened?" Asuka managed to say.  
"Long story but short version is I can feel my emotions now, I am no longer a "Doll" as you liked to call me." Rei said with a small smile at Asuka's shocked face. James finally brought his thoughts back into order and spoke up before the situation deteriorated.  
"Anyway Asuka, we need your help and that's why we came to talk to you like this." He said quickly hoping to take advantage of her shock.  
"Help with what?" Asuka said suspiciously, recovering from her shock faster than James had hoped. James handed her the folder holding the photo's he'd only seen yesterday. Asuka looked at him and Rei for a few seconds before looking at the pictures in her hand, she flicked through them faster and faster as she realised what she was seeing. After a few minutes Asuka looked up slowly.  
"You might want to come inside." She said slowly.  
"Thank you, we also have someone else you probably want to see." James said as he turned around and gestured to the car. When Asuka saw Kaji her face lit up and she ran down the stairs to hug him.  
"It's good to see you to Asuka, I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier, I was just as busy as James." Kaji said with his trademark smile. Asuka basically dragged him inside with an amused James and Rei following. They ended up in the kitchen where Asuka began making tea. Asuka's familiarity and ease made James raise an eyebrow questionably before asking the obvious question.  
"What the hell happened to you?" He asked with a grin. Asuka just glared at him as she finished up. As they all sat down James placed the pictures on the table.  
"Where were these taken?" Asuka asked immediately  
"Ameri…" James stopped as he noticed someone leaning around in the doorway.  
"You want to join us man?" James asked casually causing the man who'd first greeted them to jump slightly.  
"Oh uhh yeah ok." The man. James quickly slid the photos back into the folder as the man sat down. A few awkward seconds past before Kaji broke the silence.  
"So you two a couple?" He said with a wink at Asuka.  
"Yes." The man said while trying to discreetly puff out his meagre chest. James choked on his tea.  
"Sorry, coughed as I took a sip." He said quickly. The man was obviously not convinced but changed the subject anyway.  
"Anyway what's with your ugly scars?" He said with a badly hidden sneer. James blinked a few times, it had been so long anyone had mentioned his scars he'd almost forgotten about them.  
"They mark me as a full warrior of the Broken Sun." James said with a much more impressive display of his chest.  
"The Broken Sun? Sounds like a weird cult to me… must be why they make people so ugly" The man said obviously trying to get a rise out of James. James stared straight at the man as he spoke.  
"The Broken Sun were the greatest tribe in all of Africa, filled with the strongest, bravest and most noble people I've ever met. We were scarred to show our contempt of pain and our devotion to our brothers and sisters." James said angrily.  
"That's the stupidest thing I've…" The man's position on the other side of the table didn't stop James from reaching over and clamping the man's throat in his right hand.  
"I could kill you right now with this one hand." James said flatly. The man managed to pry James' thumb lose enough to gasp out  
"You wouldn't dare." James clamped his thumb back down and stood up, pulling the man out of his chair as he went.  
"I have killed over 45 people, do you really think I won't kill you." James said while slowly increasing the pressure.  
"James, stop." Asuka tried to get him to release his hold.  
"No." James growled, still staring into the man's eyes. Asuka was thinking of ways to try and get him to let go when Rei solved the problem, a surgical strike was performed against James' most vulnerable location, dropping him instantly. James hit the table before slowly sliding to the floor, he looked up at Rei accusingly  
"I thought you were on my side." He said slowly.  
"Not when you're about to kill someone for insufficient reason." Rei said coolly. James stared at her trying to come up with a retort before giving up and curling into a ball and cradling his crotch.  
"Thank you Rei." Asuka said with a sigh.  
"It's ok Asuka, it's not the first time he's gotten a bit too angry" Rei said with a small smile. Asuka wanted to know what had happened by was interrupted by her boyfriend finally being able to speak.  
"I demand that they all leave at once!" He said imperiously which caused Kaji to chuckle.  
"No, they're staying here for now." Asuka said, turning to stare menacingly at her boyfriend.  
"Well then I'm leaving." He said with all the maturity of a six year old.  
"Good, I don't even know why I started going out with you in the first place." Asuka said turning her back to him. The man looked shocked before running out to pack up his things and leave.  
"That was quite mean of you." Kaji remarked  
"He deserved it, he was a snivelling brat who thought he ruled the world." Asuka vehemently.  
"Then why did you date him?" Rei asked curiously.  
"I don't even know." Asuka admitted.  
"Well know that he's gone maybe we can continue our conversation." James said from the floor.  
"Yes, so I'm assuming you were going to say America earlier, do we know why they're building them?" Asuka asked as James slowly got to his feet.  
"As far as we know it could be anything but since they didn't tell us about it we're assuming an invasion force." Rei replied as she spread the photos out again. Asuka nodded before replying  
"And you want me to come back to NERV just in case they're stupid enough to attack Japan." James nodded before indicating a picture.  
"From what we've calculated they're only 25 to 30 metres tall so individually they should be no problem." James said as he showed her the complete Eva  
"Then what's the problem?" Asuka asked a bit confused.  
"By our count they have over 300 of them." Rei replied. Asuka turned her head slowly towards Rei.  
"Seriously?" She asked incredulously. Rei just nodded before leaning forward.  
"So do you want to come back and help defend Japan?" She said calmly. Asuka sat back and thought seriously for a few seconds before replying.  
"Yes." A she said this James released the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding before smiling broadly.

James stretched his shoulders before grabbing the doorframe and lifting himself until he held himself horizontally.  
"It was nice of Asuka to let us stay." Kaji said just as James started to lift himself causing him to glare at the older man.  
"Yes it was." James said as he resumed his exercise.  
"I wonder how she and Rei are getting along." Kaji said with a thoughtful expression.  
"Well they'll either kill each other or become best friends." James said with a grin. Kaji watched as James lifted himself effortlessly again and again.  
"How can you do that so easily?" Kaji asked suddenly.  
"Lots and lots of practice…and a bit more practice." James replied with another grin

Rei helped Asuka set up another bed in the only other bedroom in the house. Once they were done they each changed and lay down in their beds.  
"When did you learn German?" Asuka asked suddenly  
"James has been teaching me." Rei replied  
"How? I mean he couldn't even read Japanese when I left." Asuka said  
"He's been teaching me verbally, it's very slow." Rei said  
"I can imagine." Asuka said before rolling over to go to sleep. After a few minutes Rei spoke up.  
"Asuka, can I talk to you?" She asked hesitantly. Asuka rolled back around to look at Rei  
"Yeah I guess, what about?" She asked curiously  
"It's about James." Rei said with a blush that Asuka could see even in the dim light.  
"You have feelings for him do you?" Asuka asked with a sly smile  
"Yes, but I don't know what they are." Rei admitted  
"What do you mean?" Asuka asked confused  
"When I'm with him I feel safe and warm, protected, happy." Rei said after a few seconds.  
"That's how I feel, he's such a big scary looking male and then he grins at you and it all just goes away and you know he'll protect you with everything he has." Asuka said with a small smile before snapping back to reality but Rei was nodding in agreement.  
"That's exactly it, if you feel the same way then you can tell me what I feel." Rei said hopefully.  
"Yeah I guess I can, the best way I can describe it is the same way James described it, he's like our big brother, we're not related by blood but it's as if we were, he would fight and die for us and I'm not sure how you feel but I would fight for him." Asuka ended her speech and blushed a little as she realised what she'd said.  
"Big brother." Rei said slowly to the air around her.  
"Yeah… Anyway we should sleep now." Asuka said before rolling over again.  
"You're right, oh Asuka, thank you." Rei said before pulling her blanket up higher and getting comfortable.


	17. Chapter 17

So yeah sorry I haven't uploaded in awhile, my dedicated and trustworthy proof reader took his sweet time reading it for me :P but yeah I hope you enjoy, review to your hearts content unless it's useless flaming I'll take what you say on board.

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James woke up to a kick in the stomach, grunting he squinted up at his red-haired assailant.  
"Get up or we'll miss the plane." Asuka said with folded arms.  
"No more sleep." James said as he snuggled deeper into his blankets. Asuka kicked him again but he just curled into a ball preventing her from actually hurting him, she tried anyway, kicking and screaming at him until Rei walked in to see what the noise was about.  
"What's going on?" Rei asked curious and a little amused.  
"This dumb son of a bitch won't get up." Asuka said as she kicked his head once more.  
"Let me try something." Rei said as she knelt but James side, leaning over she whispered into his ear.  
"If you get up right now I'll make your favourite breakfast." James suddenly unfolded before rolling backwards and was standing on his feet in less than five seconds. Asuka stared at him surprised.  
"What did she tell you?" Asuka asked  
"She said she'd make my favourite breakfast…but I'm guessing she was lying." James said before glaring at Rei who just smiled sweetly at him before leaving. After a few seconds Asuka followed Rei to find out when she'd learnt to do that only to find her directly outside the door blushing slightly but with a huge grin on her face.  
"Did you see his face, that was so much fun." Rei burst out as soon as Asuka closed the door.  
"How did you know it would make him get up?" Asuka asked curiously, remembering her own attempts to wake up a sleep James.  
"Because I've done it before, he asked if I could make it and I told him only if he got up and he did." Rei said before doubling over as she struggled to hold back another laughing fit.  
"You're like a little kid." Asuka said with a grin. Rei straightened up and glared at Asuka with a remarkably accurate impression of James. Before Asuka could respond James walked out and placed a hand on each of their heads.  
"I thought we needed to get ready." He said with a grin. Asuka glared up at him as he used his grip to steer them towards Asuka's room, shoving them inside he winked before walking down the hallway to double check their flight details. Asuka was glaring after him when she heard Rei giggle behind her.  
"What are you laughing at?" Asuka asked her curiously  
"James, he's funny." Rei replied before pulling a pair of skinny jeans and a plain T-shirt out of her bag  
"Is there anywhere I can change?" Rei asked. It was only then that Asuka noticed she wasn't wearing her school uniform or her plug suit.  
"Since when do you wear normal clothes?" Asuka asked without thinking  
"Oh, James said I should probably buy some now that I do stuff besides go to school and NERV." Rei said blushing.  
"Oh well that makes sense, if no one's in the bathroom you can change there." Asuka said. Rei nodded and moved off leaving Asuka to tackle the mammoth task of going through her clothes and deciding which ones to take.

Once she was finally done she wrestled six bags into the kitchen to find James and Kaji gorging themselves on pancakes while Rei poured the last of the batter into the pan.  
"I hope you don't mind but he kept bugging me about it." Rei said as she indicated James with the spatula in her hand. It took Asuka several seconds to respond as her mind tried to grapple with the fact that James' favourite food was the same as hers while simultaneously trying not to stare at the expanse of midriff Rei was displaying with her low-fitting jeans and rather too small T-shirt.  
"It's ok but I have one question, did James help you pick your new clothes?" Asuka asked  
"Yeah why?" Rei asked confused as James choked on his food.  
"No reason, I was just wondering." Asuka said before turning to glare at James who purposefully avoided her gaze. This was interrupted by Rei passing Asuka the last pancake but Asuka continued her glaring while she ate. Almost as soon as Asuka had placed the last piece into her mouth James spoke up,  
"So we ready to go now?" He said while looking at Kaji who was inwardly laughing at him.  
"I think so." Rei said brightly, completely oblivious to Asuka's anger.  
"Good." James said as he stood up quickly and grabbed his bag from against the wall.  
"James since you're obviously the strongest one here why don't you bring out all the bags?" Asuka asked with a sickly sweet smile on her face.  
"Because…" James stopped as Asuka's glare somehow intensified, sighing with defeat he grabbed Kaji's, Rei's and two of Asuka's before struggling out the door. Asuka followed him with a chuckling Kaji and a confused Rei trailing after her.

Once James had finished loading the car and gotten in the back seat with Rei they set off giving James a much needed break from Asuka's death glare. He was just about to start speaking to Rei when Asuka turned around.  
"Hey Rei, when we get back to Japan we're going clothes shopping as soon as possible." Asuka said brightly  
"Why? I already have clothes." Rei said confused.  
"Yes but not the right clothes." Asuka replied  
"What's wrong with these clothes?" Rei asked curiously giving James a sidelong glance  
"Well there's nothing wrong with them but James isn't the most fashion minded person." Asuka replied tactfully  
"Oh, ok then…I like these clothes though." Rei said looking down at her figure hugging attire.  
"Well you'll like the ones I pick out for you even better." Asuka said with a smile before giving James a short but incredibly intense glare that had him shrinking in his seat.

Despite Asuka's earlier warning they were 15 minutes early for their flight. As they sat in the terminal Asuka sat talking to Kaji as she glared at Rei and James as they sat a few seats away talking.  
"Look at her, everyone is staring and she doesn't even notice. I can't believe James convinced her to display her body like that, as good as it may be." She said as yet another guy got berated by his female partner for looking too long.  
"James notices though." Kaji said with a chuckle  
"What do you mean?" Asuka asked curiously switching her glare to James.  
"You see the guy in those hideous orange shorts, James has tried to warn him off three times now but he's too busy staring at Rei to notice." Kaji said with a chuckle. Asuka watched as James turned his head to glare at the oblivious boy again, when he was again unsuccessful he turned back to Rei with a thoughtful look on his face before shoving her head playfully. Asuka almost laughed as the boy literally jumped when his eyes followed the movement to find James' scarred face set in an extremely threatening blank state, the boy visibly quailed for about five seconds before losing all nerve and running off. James attention was drawn back to Rei as she shoved him with much more force causing him to fall off his chair, standing up James tried to grab her but she dodged and ran off laughing, James gave chase for about five minutes before they were stopped by security, defeated they returned to their seats to continue talking.  
"She's quite…playful." Asuka said amazed  
"Yeah she is, it just shows how powerful her drugs were, turning that into a zombie." Kaji said sadly  
"Drugs?" Asuka asked curiously  
"Oh yeah you don't know do you, Rei was on some serious drugs that kept something from happening, I don't know the full story, but these drugs had the side effect of suppressing almost all emotion which is why she appeared a zombie or doll, but about six months ago they developed a new drug that doesn't have the suppressive side effect and we've been weaning Rei onto them since then." Kaji said  
"So she's completely off the old drugs now?" Asuka asked looking again at Rei's smiling face  
"No, not yet but it's less than a week to go now and Ritsuko said the changes will be minimal if not completely non-existent." Kaji said  
"You know a lot about this." Asuka said suspiciously. Kaji laughed before replying.  
"James and I were tasked with being the male figures in her life so I was told almost everything but James did it all without me." Kaji said with a smile  
"That explains why she's so happy with him." Asuka said with an involuntary smile as Rei shoved James playfully again.  
"Yeah he's been there since the beginning, he's somehow kept her happy the entire time, I don't want to see her when she gets truly truly sad for the first time." Kaji said as their flight was called for boarding. As they stood up and got ready Asuka realised something.  
"Why didn't James make her a little bit sad every so often so that she'd get used to it?" Asuka asked curiously  
"He was meant to but I don't think he could bring himself to do it. She has been sad before though thanks to blunders made by everyone else but it was always minor and James was always there, if something happens and James isn't there to help she'll need someone else to help her up." Kaji said with a meaningful look at Asuka.  
"Well I suppose I can shoulder this great and noble responsibility." Asuka said while striking a pose. Kaji chuckled as they boarded the plane.

As they flew Asuka was deep in thought contemplating whether she'd been wrong about James having brotherly intentions towards Rei. After a few minutes she came to the conclusion that it was better for Rei to be unaware of any other intentions James might have for the time being and that he would set her right in time.

James jumped as something his his shoulder.  
"I'm sorry." Rei said as she sat back up  
"It's ok Rei, you just surprised me that's all." James said before shifting slightly to give her a more comfortable angle to his shoulder. Rei rested her head against him gratefully before speaking up.  
"Hey James, are you my big brother?" James looked down at her confused  
"Why are you asking?" James asked confused.  
"I was talking to Asuka last night and she said you were like her big brother and that you were also my big brother." Rei said before looking up at him. James couldn't help but smile  
"Do you want me to be your big brother?" He asked after a few seconds.  
"Yes." Rei replied without hesitation  
"Then yes, I'm your big brother." James said with a grin. Rei smiled at him before snuggling deeper into his shoulder and closing her eyes. James watched her sleep for a few minutes before noticing that she was shivering, it was only then he noticed that he was cold to so instead of grabbing one of the miniscule blankets the plane's crew had provided he lifted Reis head off his shoulder, smiling at her sleepy complaints, before lifting the arm rest and drawing her into a hug. Rei was much more content with this position if her murmurings were any indication. James smiled and rested his chin on top of her head until Asuka tapped his shoulder.  
"She was running around like a child literally half an hour ago what happened?" Asuka whispered to him. James just smiled and shrugged his free shoulder. Asuka sat back shaking her head while James returned to his previous position to spend the rest of the flight wondering how it could feel so good but so bad at the same time.


	18. Chapter 18

so I wrote this before chapter 17 was proof read because I really really wanted to write and if I needed to change anything about chapter 17 I could just change this but yeah again please review and I hope you enjoy

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They arrived in Japan in the early afternoon and headed straight to NERV so Asuka could get reacquainted as soon as possible. They were greeted by Misato and Ritsuko.  
"Asuka you've grown a lot in two years." Misato said as they approached  
"Yup, I'm almost a full woman now." Asuka said proudly.  
"Almost but not quite." Ritsuko said softly but only Misato heard her. They started walking into the NERV headquarters while James told Asuka about all the changes they'd made.  
"We've made some modifications to Unit-02 which will…" James was interrupted by Asuka screaming at him.  
"YOU DID WHAT!?"  
"Calm down. All we did was add an S2 engine and add space for a couple new weapons." James said as he deflected a raging Asuka.  
"What do you mean add space?" Asuka asked as she calmed down.  
"You know how Mächtige Zuschlag can clamp onto the ammo boxes for my weapons? That, just smaller because what we had in mind for you doesn't weigh nearly as much." James said with a grin  
"What do you mean? What weapons did you put on my Eva?" Asuka asked suspiciously  
"Well you'll get to choose once Shinji gets here." James said with a wink.  
"Oh speaking of Shinji, we found him." Misato said over her shoulder.  
"You don't have Shinji yet?...Shinji left?" Asuka asked confused  
"Yeah about a week after you did if I remember correctly, and we found you first because, one: you were easier to find and two: we thought we could use your help on convincing Shinji to come back." James said  
"Where is Shinji?" Rei said suddenly.  
"He's still in Japan, a small village as far away from Tokyo-3 as you can get without leaving the country." Ritsuko said as they walked into the Eva cages.  
"I'd forgotten how big they are." Asuka said wondrously. James chuckled before replying  
"Mächtige Zuschlag is still the biggest." He said with a grin before breaking off to talk to some seemingly random engineers. Asuka looked after him curiously.  
"He's talking to them about the new weapons." Rei said with a happy smile  
"Oh yeah about them, what are they and what did he mean by we get to choose?" Asuka asked somewhat annoyed at James' teasing  
"I don't know, only James and the engineers know exactly what the weapons are, it's been really frustrating trying to get answers." Rei admitted  
"Leave James to his fun, if things go how we think they will it'll be the last he has for a while." Misato said with a sad smile  
"It's not like we'll be having fun either." Asuka said  
"True, but James will always be the first into the fight and the last to leave if it comes to that." Misato said  
"Why does he get to be the first one in?" Asuka asked angrily  
"Because of how Mächtige Zuschlag is built and what it's made to do…and because of how he is." Misato finished with a wry smile.  
"What do you mean because of how he is?" Asuka asked getting angrier  
"He's a protector, a fighter and a soldier." Rei said suddenly startling Misato and Asuka after her silence.  
"How do you know?" Asuka asked curious  
"He's told me, and…he's rescued me." Rei said slowly  
"What do you mean rescued?" Asuka asked confused. Rei looked away suddenly scared so Misato answered for her.  
"When Rei first started the transition to her new pills she would often find a secluded place to think about everything she was feeling, and apparently some of the staff noticed this, and began to follow her, and I think you can imagine what they would have done to her if James hadn't gone looking for her that day." Misato finished with a grimace. Asuka turned to Rei to find her with her head down and her hands clasped in front of her, Asuka put an arm around her shoulder  
"Same thing happened to me, just not by fucking NERV staff members, I'm assuming you fired them." Asuka said angrily  
"Yes, we almost didn't have to though." Misato said with a sad smile at Rei.  
"Why not?" Asuka asked confused  
"Because I nearly killed them." James said grimly, causing them all to jump.  
"Really?" Asuka asked  
"Yeah, they're lucky there five of them or I would have had the time before security rocked up, no one gets to hurt the people I care about without dealing with me" James said grimly before giving them all a grin and putting his hands on top of Asuka's and Rei's heads, much to their annoyance.  
"You two want to see the changes they just finished?" He asked while steering them towards their Eva's anyway.  
"I need to talk to Misato first." Rei said as she skilfully spun out of his grasp.  
"Ok then but don't take too long, they just finished the shield yesterday apparently." James called after her as she walked back to Misato.  
"Hey, Misato can I talk to you." Rei asked  
"Yeah sure Rei, what is it?" Misato said turning around to face her.  
"I just wanted to say that I've figured out my feelings now." Rei said with a smile  
"Oh did Asuka help you?" Misato asked curiously  
"Yeah, I told her how I feel and she said she felt the same way so I asked her what that meant and she said that James was like her big brother so that means that James is my big brother to." Rei said in a rush  
"Big brother?...Really? Have you asked James about this yet?" Misato asked confused  
"Yes, he asked me if I wanted him to be my big brother and I said yes and then he said that he was." Rei said smiling wider  
"Well…that's good to know, you seem happy about it." Misato said, forcing a smile while her mind readjusted.  
"I am." Rei said.  
"Well I think he'll be almost done showing Asuka Unit-02 so you probably want to get back to him." Misato said after a few seconds. Rei nodded once before running off to attack James with a hug from behind as he was talking to Asuka.  
"They're very touchy-feely for a brother and sister." Kaji said as James knelt down to give her a piggy back ride. Misato jumped violently at his unexpected appearance.  
"I think Asuka may have been somewhat confused about James' feelings." Misato replied as she glared at Kaji.  
"I was thinking the same thing, I wonder why she hasn't corrected Rei yet though." He said with a lazy grin.  
"Maybe she thinks it's better if Rei finds out herself…or if James tells her" Misato replied  
"When do you think James will tell her, he'd grovel at Rei's feet if he thought it would make her happy." Kaji replied with a grimace.  
"I'm sure it will work itself out." Misato replied before leaning in to whisper in Kaji's ear, completely derailing his train of thought.

"It's not very big." Rei said doubtfully as she looked at the plate attached to Unit-00's arm.  
"It can expand to cover the entire torso and still be able to stop a pallet rifle shot at point blank range." James said as he carried Rei to her Eva with Asuka trailing dejectedly behind.  
"How come Unit-02 doesn't get a shield?" Asuka asked, annoyed that Rei got something she didn't have. Rei looked over her shoulder as she answered.  
"Unit-00 has been reconfigured to support Mächtige Zuschlag, thicker armour, load capacity enhancements and the shield. We assumed you would prefer a more aggressive role." Rei said with a grin.  
"Damn right I would, I would never choose to get stuck making sure this big idiot doesn't stuff up." Asuka said as she shoved James.  
"That's why we gave you the clamps on the back, to hold another weapon while on the move." James said  
"What about Unit-01?" Asuka asked after a few seconds.  
"Basic set up is the same as yours but with slightly heavier armour as Shinji is somewhat less, acrobatic than you are." James said with a chuckle. Rei giggled from her position on James' back  
"I like it when you laugh." She said.  
"Ok then but why?" James said confused  
"Because I like the sound…and when I'm on your back I can feel you move and its funny." Rei said  
"I'm glad to know my laughing feels 'funny' to you." James said with a grin as Rei hit him lightly over the head.  
"I see why you hit people all the time Asuka." Rei replied causing James to chuckle.  
"That's good but you'll have to hit James harder than that if you want it to affect him at all." Asuka replied with a smile of amusement as James mock glared at her.  
"Hey, you three ready to go home now?" Kaji called to them from where he was standing with Misato.  
"Yeah we're coming." James called back as he executed a slow spin on one leg. On their way back Rei spoke up suddenly.  
"Oh Asuka do you want a turn?" She asked with a grin.  
"Doing what?" Asuka replied confused.  
"Riding James." Rei replied  
"Can't I decide if I carry either of you?" James asked  
"No you don't, and yes I would." Asuka replied. James sighed in defeat before getting on his knees and letting go of Rei to let Asuka climb on. Kaji was laughing at him as they approached.  
"I see you've become the new favoured mode of transport." Kaji said with a grin as James walked past.  
"You're just jealous Asuka isn't riding your back." Rei said with a smirk causing James to snort with laughter and Misato to burst out laughing. Kaji glared at Rei as she assumed an ultra-innocent expression before throwing his hands in the air with defeat before leading the way to the car.

James had just carried in the last of Asuka's bags to find her about to open the door to what used to be her room.  
"Wait Asuka…" Was all James managed to yell out before Asuka slid the door open.  
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" She yelled before turning to James who help up his hands.  
"Rei moved in before Misato left and since then neither of us have bothered to move." James said quickly.  
"I DON'T CA…wait, does that mean I can have Misato's room?" Asuka seemed to calm down as James nodded quickly.  
"Why did she move out?...and Why did Rei move in?" Asuka asked as she walked over to open the door to the now empty room.  
"Rei moved in because there was no point with her living alone and Misato moved out because of her promotion." James said as Asuka inspected the largest room in the house.  
"Misato got promoted?" Asuka said as she measured out the dimensions with her steps.  
"Yeah she's Vice-Commander now after Fuyutsuki got promoted." James said  
"Well it doesn't matter this room will do." Asuka said once she'd finished. James sagged with relief before moving to the kitchen to start cooking.

Once they'd finished eating Asuka had a shower before heading to bed leaving James and Rei sitting on the couch watching TV. James smiled as Rei yawned hugely and blinked several times.  
"Tired?" He asked  
"Yeah a little." Rei replied  
"Then why don't you go to bed?" James suggested  
"Because I'm enjoying spending time with you." Rei said with a smile. James smiled back before continuing to watch the movie. About half an hour later Rei was sleeping with her head resting on James' leg while James slowly ran his fingers through her short hair. James sighed as he realised what he was doing before gently moving Rei's head so he could stand up.  
"Huh, what are you doing?" Rei murmured sleepily.  
"It's time for you to go to bed now." James said as he picked her up and carried her to her room to lay her gently on her bed, James let her go to stand up but Rei curled her arms tighter around his neck.  
"No stay you're warm." She grumbled with a frown  
"I have to go Rei, I need to sleep to." James said as he gently pulled her arms off his neck.  
"Then sleep her." Rei said grumpily as James tucked her in, James had to pull in a sharp breath and stop moving for a few seconds as he struggled to quell the parts of his mind screaming for him to say yes.  
"No, I'm sorry you'll have to use your blankets to stay warm tonight." James said as he stood up. Rei didn't reply as she rolled over in her sleep, James smiled down at her before heading to his room to exercise until he fell from the pole he'd been using to pull himself up with a heavy thump.


	19. Chapter 19

Ok first thing...THERE WILL BE ACTION NEXT CHAPTER...apart from that I hope you actually find the meant to be funny bits funny, apart from that thank anyone who's actually been reading from the beginning (if any of you have :P). Was meant to do this earlier but I got over a 1000 views fairly recently so thank you all for that, yeah R&R.

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Rei sat daydreaming in the kitchen while Asuka prepared breakfast.  
"Wait, you're vegetarian aren't you?" Asuka's voice broke her out of her reverie  
"Oh, yeah but please cook what you want I will find something." Rei replied quickly.  
"Well ok but I'm not sure what's here." Asuka said as she opened a cupboard and looked in.  
"We have bread so I'll just make some toast." Rei said  
"Ok, this is almost done so can you wake up James?" Asuka asked as she returned to frying bacon.  
Rei nodded and stood up to suddenly stop with a grin.  
"What are y…" Asuka began before Rei ran out the kitchen only to return a few minutes later holding a large metal bucket and carrying it to the sink. Rei hummed happily as she filled the bucket nearly to the brim and carefully picked it up again.  
"I think I know what you're going to do…have fun." Asuka said with a grin that Rei returned before slowly left the kitchen.

James sat bolt upright as a Rei dumped the contents of the bucket onto his head and chest, James tried to grab her but she ran out laughing. James glared after her before standing up to start wringing out his shirt, he grabbed a bunch of the wet material but stopped as an idea came to mind, struggling out of his shirt James gently curled it into a loose ball trying to lose as little water as possible. James walked to the kitchen with the shirt in his hand.  
"Hey Asuka, have you seen Rei?" James asked innocently as he noticed the bucket in the corner.  
"She's in the lounge." Asuka said with an evil grin. James grinned back before moving to the lounge, he found Rei facing the other way as she seemed to be preparing a pillow fort.  
"Hey Rei." James said as he readied himself. Rei turned with an ultra-innocent look on her face only to have James' wet shirt hit her in the face with enough force to make her fall over. James burst out laughing as Rei slowly pulled the clingy shirt off her face and shoulders to glare at him. James looked at her again only to laugh harder at the state of her hair and clothes, Rei jumped and charged at him. As she jumped on him James turned and caught her, laughing he carried her over to the couch as she hit him trying to break free, James dumped her on the couch only for her to grab his two years' worth of hair, yanking his head down with her.  
"Owowowowowowow." James said with a grimace as Rei pushed or her advantage by pulling him further down. James gave up and collapsed on top of her before rolling off the couch with her to try and dislodge her grip, he didn't succeed.

Asuka walked into the lounge only to stop dead as she saw Rei sitting in James' back as he crawled around trying to make her let go.  
"What…the…fuck?" She eventually asked.  
"MAKE HER LET GO PLEASE!" James yelled as Rei purposefully toppled him so she could sit on his stomach.  
"I'm done now anyway." Rei said calmly before letting go of James' hair.  
"Thank fuck for that." James said with a sigh as he let his head hit the floor.  
"Breakfast is ready." Asuka said slowly, still in shock. Rei stood up so that James' could get up, he stood up slowly before ducking down to pick Rei up by her waist and throw her over his shoulder, Rei struggled and tried to grab his hair again but James pinned her arms to her side and laughed as she wriggled helplessly.  
"You two are the biggest kids I've ever seen." Asuka said with an amused smile.  
"Damn straight." James said with a grin as he carried a defeated Rei to the kitchen before putting her down. She glared at him before sitting down in her chair and eating the toast Asuka had made for her, James chuckled before sitting down and practically inhaling the bacon and eggs in front of him. When he was done he sighed happily before standing up.  
"I'm going to go cut my hair." James said with a glare at Rei who smiled innocently at him.  
"Will you be able to get an appointment though?" Asuka asked curiously  
"No, I'll just do it myself." James said as he began to leave.  
"You can cut your own hair?" Asuka asked incredulously  
"Yeah, who do you think would bother with it in South Africa?" James said with a grin.  
"Then why did you let your hair grow long in the first place?" Asuka asked curious. James stopped a thought for a few seconds.  
"I don't actually know." He said before grinning at Asuka and walking to his room.  
"What's he going to use to cut his hair?" Asuka asked Rei.  
"I wouldn't be surprised if he used one of his knives." Rei said  
"While I want to see." Asuka said standing up and following James. James walked out of his room carrying two different knives.  
"How many knives do you have?" Asuka asked incredulously as she realised they weren't the matching pair he'd had when he'd beaten off the men who'd tried to rape her.  
"Only four." James said with a grin before walking into the bathroom. Asuka followed him only to nearly choke with surprise as he grabbed the hair hanging down his back and sawed through it with one of the knives.  
"I could almost leave it like this." James said with a chuckle.  
"You do that and I'll mess up your face to match." Asuka said with a glare. James grinned at her before cutting the rest of his hair down to roughly five centimetres.  
"Are you done?" Asuka asked as she looked at James' somewhat massacred hair  
"No that's just getting rid of most of it." He said as he swapped knives to a short slightly curved blade, Asuka watched with surprise as it sliced through his hair easily. About halfway through she got bored and left to join Rei in watching TV.

James walked into the lounge an hour later, his skin still red from the shower he'd had to wash away the hair that had fallen on his shoulders.  
"So what do you think?" He asked as Asuka and Rei turned to look at him.  
"You looked better with long hair." Rei said dismissively before turning back to the TV  
"Yeah you did." Asuka agreed.  
"Why didn't you tell me that earlier?" James said with a glare  
"Because we didn't know how you'd look with short hair." Rei said still watching TV  
"But you've seen me with short hair." James protested.  
"That was two years ago idiot, you look different now." Asuka said  
"Really?" James asked  
"Yes, now go pack we're waiting for you." Asuka said  
"For what?...oh." James said before heading to his room to grab the bag he hadn't unpacked from their trip to Germany. Grabbing a shirt before zipping it back up he walked back to the lounge.  
"Done." He said proudly. Asuka turned and looked at him slowly.  
"That's the same bag you had in Germany." She said  
"Well yeah I only have one bag." James said confused  
"Well at least pack it with different clothes." Asuka said with a glare  
"There are all my clothes." James said defensively. Asuka stared at him for a few seconds before turning to Rei.  
"When we go shopping he's coming with us." Asuka said, Rei nodded once.  
"Don't I get to decide if I go shopping?" James protested.  
"No." Both Asuka and Rei said together. James threw his bag at Asuka's head before ducking around the doorway as she threw it back, chuckling he pulled out his phone to call their lift to the airport.

On the flight Asuka looked over at James.  
"If Shinji is in a small village will we be transferring to a smaller plane?" She asked curiously  
"No, when we land we'll be taken by car from then on." James said  
"Did you organise all of this? I saw you talking on the phone earlier." Asuka asked  
"No all of this was organised by some random NERV employee, all I had to do was call to tell the driver when we were ready to leave." James said with a chuckle  
"Well that makes sense." Asuka said  
"Yeah I have better things to do anyway." James said with a smile  
"Like what?" Asuka asked disbelievingly  
"Get beaten up by this child in a teenagers body." James said as he lightly shover Rei's head as she looked out the window, she didn't even turn her head as her arm swung back and hit him in the face.  
"That's…quite hypocritical of you." Asuka said  
"Shh, but no I was in charge of the Eva performance upgrades and weapon designs. Apparently I have more military experience than anyone there other than Misato." James said  
"They really put you in charge?" Asuka asked shocked  
"Yeah, I mean I talked with a lot of people before I decided everything but I came up with most of the weapon designs and shit like that." James said with a grin.  
"Well if they're all shit I know who to blame." Asuka said, crossing her arms. James chuckled  
"I wonder how Shinji will react." Rei said suddenly. James took a few seconds before answering.  
"Well he'll probably be happy to see you and Asuka, aside from that I think he'll help us." James said with a smile  
"So he won't be happy to see you?" Asuka asked  
"Fuck no, he was always jealous of my good looks and charm." James said with a smirk. Asuka and Rei burst out laughing  
"Well that just hurts, but no hopefully he'll be happy to see me but he knew you two longer." James said with a glare.  
"I'm sure he'll be happy to see his big brother again." Asuka said once she'd recovered.  
"I'm not sure I'll still be his big brother." James said sadly  
"What do you mean?" Rei asked  
"I might be wrong but I think Shinji will have grown a lot in these two years" James said  
"Well we'll see when we get there." Asuka said. James smiled at her before leaning back and closing his eyes for the rest of the trip.

James stood in front of the door to the small house Shinji was currently living in. He knocked firmly and before stepping back to from a line with Asuka and Rei, when Shinji opened the door the look on his face caused James to snort with laughter  
"Good afternoon Shinji." Asuka said  
"Good afternoon." Rei echoed her  
"Hey man." James said  
"Uhh hi." Shinji said after a few seconds. They stood in awkward silence for a few seconds before Asuka spoke up.  
"Are you going to invite us in or what?" She asked  
"Oh yeah please come in." Shinji said opening the door further and stepping back, they all filed in before Shinji lead the way to the tiny kitchen.  
"Uhh, I'll stand in the doorway." James said as he saw how little space was left after Rei and Asuka followed Shinji in.  
"Ok…why are you all here anyway?" Shinji asked  
"We need your help." All three of them said at once.  
"You sound different Rei." Shinji said  
"Oh umm I can feel emotions now." Rei said blushing  
"Really? When, how?" Shinji asked.  
"I have to take medication and there was a side effect but I've changed now so I've slowly been feeling more and more." Rei managed to get out as she stared at the floor with her cheeks bright red. James chucked the folder he was carrying onto the small table in the centre of the room.  
"We need your help, take a look at those and we'll answer any questions." James said, Shinji picked up the folder and looked through the pictures quickly.  
"These look like Eva." He said once he was done.  
"They are, the Americans found a way to mass produce them, they're not as big or well developed as ours but they have a lot more of them." James said  
"How many more?" Shinji asked  
"Our estimates said 300 but that was several days ago and we have no idea how fast they can make them." Asuka said. Shinji's eyes widened considerably  
"That's why we need your help." Rei said quietly.  
"I guess I don't have much choice." Shinji said after a few seconds.  
"Well you do, but we could really use you and Unit-01." James said with a small smile.  
"I guess you do, what if I choose not to?" Shinji asked  
"We would fight anyway but we wouldn't last long, 3 can't hold back 300." James said deceptively calm  
"So you don't need me?" Shinji asked  
"No, but we want you to help." James said slowly  
"Good, I would have helped anyway but I didn't want to be needed again." Shinji said as he relaxed into a smile.  
"Oh fuck, don't do that to me again." James said as he sagged against the door frame. Shinji chuckled before turning to Asuka and Rei.  
"So it's been a long time, what have I missed?" He asked with a smile. James smiled from the doorway before pulling out his phone.  
"_We'll be leaving tomorrow morning_." He hit send on the text and 30 seconds later heard the car pull off.  
"Hey Shinji you should have met Asuka's ex-boyfriend." James called out causing Asuka to turn to him with a glare that could have bowed kings, James just smiled innocently before bolting with an enraged Asuka hot on his heels. Shinji couldn't help but smile before he turned to Rei.  
"Well I suppose you get to talk now." He said with a smile. Rei smiled shyly back before starting to talk.

* * *

I was originally gonna have James' hair stay long but then I realised it wouldn't actually suit his background so yeah. Don't ask me why I thought I should tell you this but meh now you know.


	20. Chapter 20

So, longest chapter I've ever written, ratio wise there's not actually as much action as planned but yeah, I had about 1000 words on Saturday and Sunday night I looked at my word count and saw 5000 so it wasn't planned to be this long but I hope you like it.

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James rolled face first into the wall causing him to jerk backwards violently. He sighed and let his head hit the floor as he realised where he was, searching with his hand he eventually found his phone and flipped it open to check the time."  
"6:23 am, this is so bullshit." He said before rolling out of bed and standing up. Stretching he walked to a window to see Shinji doing chin ups on a conveniently placed branch. James shrugged and walked back inside to get dressed before joining Shinji.  
"Hey man." James said as he approached.  
"Hey James, you're up early." Shinji said as he dropped from the branch with a smile.  
"Yeah I rolled into the wall." James said with a lazy grin as he took Shinji's place on the branch. Shinji chuckled as he picked up a pair of matching cutlasses.  
"You actually know how to use them?" James asked, curious  
"Yeah, when I first moved here it was…stressful and I remembered how you dealt with it so I started working out too and after a while I met a man who taught me to use these." Shinji said as entered a basic stance.  
"Well they look harder to use than Gräuel I'll say that." James said  
"I've never actually seen Gräuel" Shinji said as he started swinging the swords around skilfully  
"Yeah well it either wasn't there or I didn't have to use it, I'll show you when we get back to Tokyo-3." James said before dropping off the branch.  
"What happened to NERV anyway? Rei and Asuka told me about everything they've done so I know SEELE are all dead now but they didn't mention how NERV survived." Shinji said as he slowly started moving faster and faster.  
"Well I'm not exactly sure how we kept the funding SEELE provided but I think Fuyutsiki and Kaji put in some serious work, don't really need most of it though, I mean we've upgraded the Eva's a bit and repaired all the damaged parts of HQ but before and after that was paid for we started helping everyone else, fixing homes, buying food, all that good stuff." James said with a small smile before dropping to the ground to start doing push ups. They trained in silence for a while before James spoke up.  
"I really hope the Americans don't attack." He said softly.  
"Why? Well besides the obvious reasons." Shinji asked with a slight tilt of his head.  
"Well when we were still hunting SEELE I'd always hoped to get the four of us back together again, I know this is technically making that happen but I'd always wanted it to be a happier occasion, and then we'd all go to school with Kensuke, Hikari and Touji, and you and Asuka would finally get together and me and Rei… would find someone and yeah, I just wish it was different." James stopped talking and wiped his eyes with the back of one hand before resuming his push ups.  
"You must have really missed us." Shinji tried to change the mood with a grin.  
"I couldn't sleep for the first week after you left." James said flatly before giving up and moving into a sitting position.  
"Why didn't you just work out like usual?" Shinji asked  
"I did, it didn't help…it was Rei who did it in the end, I was at NERV while we were trying to find the first member of SEELE, she just walked up and said 'You look tired, you should sleep.' I remember looking up at her and then just passing out from exhaustion." James said with a chuckle. Shinji joined in before broaching the topic he'd wanted to talk about since the day before.  
"About Rei, she told me why she is like she is and I understand that but what was it like from your point of view?" Shinji asked curious. James smiled slightly and leant back as he answered.  
"Well I think it was about the second week in when the first time I ever noticed a change, I'd somehow managed to trip over nothing and fell straight into a wall, when I looked around there she was, just smiling ever so slightly in amusement, after that she's improved faster and faster, only a few more days till she's completely off her old drugs." James said with an almost goofy smile on his face.  
"She told me about how you saved her, those bastards are lucky I wasn't there too." Shinji said. James chuckled as he rolled his head back to look at the sky  
"Damn straight, but yeah that was a bad day, I mean Rei can fight and she's not afraid to hit a guy in his most sensitive area but there were five of them and I just, I just don't like to think about it." James said with a shudder.  
"Well she was lucky you were there." Shinji said with a kind smile.  
"You would have done the same thing I did, well maybe not as violently but you would have stopped them." James said as he rolled his head forward again and gave Shinji a grin  
"Well yeah but I wasn't there, anyway let's not talk about this." Shinji said quickly. James nodded before standing up and stretching hugely.  
"So what's this about Asuka having a boyfriend?" Shinji asked innocently.  
"He was a little rat, even she doesn't know why she was going out with him but yeah he's gone now and I'm fairly sure Asuka wouldn't mind if you finally asked her out." James said with a wink before laughing.  
"I think I will, after all of this is done, don't really want to have that getting in the way during a war." Shinji said with a glare. James stopped laughing and nodded.  
"Yeah that's a good idea, I mean don't completely ignore her cause she might not understand but it's probably best everyone leaves that kind of stuff till afterwards." James said before checking his phone.  
"We should probably get going, we need to get back to NERV ASAP so we'll be prepared for anything." James said as he pocketed the phone and began to walk back to the house. Shinji nodded before sliding his swords back into their scabbards and following.

James walked over to the door to where Rei and Asuka were sleeping. Raising his hand he hit it once, hard.  
"WHAT?!" He heard Asuka scream after a short delay  
"It's time to get up we need to leave soon." James said calmly, he waited for a reply but was surprised when Rei opened the door moments before Asuka came flying through and sent both feet squarely into James' stomach, he fell with a grunt.  
"That's what you get for waking us up so rudely." Asuka said as she stood over him victoriously.  
"…Bitch." James muttered as he curled into a ball, Asuka brought her foot up before stomping his head into the ground.  
"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!" She yelled at him.  
"owowOWOWOW I'm sorry I didn't mean it I'm sorry." James pleaded as Asuka repeatedly stomped his head. She scoffed before walking back into her room. James stayed on the floor for a few minutes until Rei walked out after getting dressed.  
"You're still here?" She asked amused  
"Asuka's strength level has increased several times faster than my toughness level." James said from the floor. Rei laughed before offering her hand to help him up, James uncoiled and rolled over to take it and stand up slowly before stretching.  
"You ready to go?" He asked Rei as his arms fell to his side  
"Yeah and Asuka's packed she's just getting herself ready now." Rei said as they walked to go find Shinji. They found him standing over his swords with a couple of bags packed next to them.  
"Hey Shinji." James said they walked up to him.  
"Hey, do you think I'll be able to take these on the plane or will I have to ship them." Shinji asked  
"Dude, we're NERV we could take loaded guns onto the plane and get away with it." James said with a grin  
"That's true, well then I guess I'm ready to go." Shinji said with a smile, James clapped him on the shoulder before stopping completely.  
"Shinji… when did you become taller than me?" He asked quietly, Shinji chuckled before replying  
"I've grown a lot over these two years, and you're still bigger than me." Shinji said  
"Well yeah I've been officially training since I was six but I can't believe you got taller than me." James said with a grin before walking out the room.  
"Is he really that self-conscious about his height?" Shinji asked Rei  
"No I think it just took him by surprise, he's always been the biggest and tallest." Rei said with a laugh as she watched James leave  
"That's true but you've grown to." Shinji said with a smile which made Rei blush.  
"Only a little bit, not as much as you or James." She said quickly. Shinji laughed  
"Well guys are normally taller than girls." Shinji said as he picked up his bags.  
"Do you need help?" Rei asked.  
"Yeah sure, if you can carry my swords it'll save a second trip." Shinji said, Rei hurried to pick them up and follow him.  
"From what I've seen and heard you and James are really close." Shinji said lightly  
"Yeah, he's the big brother I never had." Rei said practically skipping next to Shinji as she grinned up at him.  
"Big Brother...never mind" Shinji lowered his head in thought, his mind playing back the earlier conversation he'd had with James, Rei looked at him confused but he avoided her gaze and she was soon distracted by Asuka coming out of their room wearing a rather skimpy tank top that showed off a fair amount of midriff above her shorts, really short shorts. Rei looked at her with an annoyance she didn't understand until she realised she was wearing an even smaller shirt above a pair of jeans almost identical to the ones she had worn in Germany. Asuka looked in her direction and Rei looked away quickly but when she dared a glance back Asuka was glaring at her, Rei noticed James walking into the hallway and took refuge in moving to greet him.  
"Hello little one." James said with a grin as he placed his hand on her head to emphasise his height. Rei glared at him from under his hand before replying.  
"Can I have a hug?" She asked quietly  
"I've told you that you can have a hug whenever you want." James said as he bent down to pick her up by her waist.  
"What's wrong?" James whispered softly into Rei's ear once her head was settled on her shoulder.  
"Asuka's angry with me but I don't know why." Rei said in a voice James barely heard.  
James looked up at Asuka who was still shooting the occasional glare, when she noticed James looking at her show looked away quickly and turned back to talking to Shinji.  
"It's because you were talking to Shinji." James said with a chuckle  
"Really?" Rei asked confused.  
"Yeah, I'm not sure if you noticed last night or before they left but Asuka has a huge crush on Shinji, doesn't seem to have gone away at all." James said with a smile.  
"So she's mad at me because I was taking up Shinji's time?" Rei asked as she tilted her head to look up at James  
"Yeah you're competition for his affections." James said with a grin before placing Rei back on the floor.  
"Am I really?" Rei asked with an excited smile.  
"Yeah, I mean it's been two years so she doesn't know how Shinji feels anymore and with you having your emotions back she has no idea what you're going to do." James said with a forced smile.  
"But she's better and prettier than me." Rei said with a sudden drooping of her shoulders.  
"What makes you think that?" James asked surprised  
"At school, when she was there everyone always talked about how beautiful she was and how smart she is and I know I'm not that smart and no one ever talked about me." Rei said looking at the floor with her hands clasped in front of her.  
"Well then people are stupid, to me you're the best and prettiest girl in the world." James said as he lifted Rei's head and leant over to look at her face. Rei smiled at him  
"You're my brother you have to say that." She said grinning  
"I don't have to say it… just don't doubt yourself ok." James said forcing another smile  
"Ok, I'll try." Rei said nodding happily and smiling back.  
"Good, the car should be arriving soon so if you can go and tell those two I'll take our stuff outside." James said as he straightened. Rei nodded and walked over to Shinji and Asuka as James turned and hurried to gather his stuff, he walked into the room he'd slept in and rested his head against the wall with a sigh.  
"You have to let her do this, if it makes her happy then that's the only thing that matters!" James thought to himself as he struggled to regain control of his emotions. Snarling he stepped back before sending his fist into the wall, the pain cooled his emotions enough for him to interact normally again. Picking up his bags he took a quick detour to pick up Rei's and Asuka's before walking outside to find the car already waiting, James nodded to the driver as he opened the boot to place the bags inside. James walked back inside shaking his still stinging hand, he found the other three pilots looking at Shinji's swords.  
"Hey the cars here if you're all ready." James said from the doorway.  
"Yeah we're ready." Shinji said as he slid the swords back into their scabbards.  
"We heard a noise, what happened?" Asuka asked  
"Oh I tripped over my bag and fell into the wall." James said with an embarrassed grin, Shinji was about to point out that James' hand was bleeding when Asuka grabbed his hand and dragged him outside, James put his uninjured hand on Rei's head and kept it there as they walked to the car. Rei glared at him as he let her go to climb into the front passenger seat, James just grinned at her as they both got in the car.

After a thoroughly boring flight they arrived in Tokyo-3 to be greeted by Kaji, Misato and Ritsuko.  
"We don't have time to stop and catch up right now we have an emergency." Misato said as the pilots walked up, they all perked up as they were ushered into a car specially made with enough seating for all of them while still looking normal.  
"So what's this emergency?" James asked once they were underway.  
"The Americans are actually attacking, we wouldn't have spotted them if we weren't looking but they'll be on Japanese soil in a few hours and looking at their flight path they'll be ready to attack Tokyo-3 in a few hours after that." Misato said as Kaji drove them directly to NERV  
"Well it seems we'll be getting re-acquainted with our Eva's sooner than expected." Shinji said with a sigh of mixed anticipation and  
"Yes you will be. James are all the weapons ready?" Ritsuko asked  
"All except Zerstörung but I wouldn't use that anyway." James said with a nonchalant wave of his hand as he settled back into the car  
"Good, we'll have to get you guys in your Eva's right away so you can choose your weapons." Ritsuko said.  
"Finally, can you tell us what they are now?" Asuka burst out.  
"By the time I finished we'd be there so no, you can find out when you see them." James said with a grin from his position on the other side of the car. Asuka glared at him but remained silent for the rest of the trip.

They arrived at NERV and the pilots hurried to the locker room while the other three went to the control room. Shinji and James changed quickly so that James could show Shinji the minor changes they'd made to Unit-01. Arriving at the cages after a quick jog they ran over to Unit-01.  
"Ok we added full S2 engines to the other three but Unit-01 already has one from when she ate that Angel, we don't know exactly how it'll work but it should be fine, the clamps on the back are for the weapons you'll be getting soon and that's about it…oh wait yeah your armour is more advanced but it's still not as heavy as Mächtige Zuschlag's or Unit-00 so try not to get shot too much." James showed Shinji everything quickly and had to yell the last part over his shoulder as he ran to his own Eva. Shinji shook his head with a smile before looking up at Unit-01.  
"I was wondering when I'd see you again." He said before walking to the platform that would carry him to the plug.

The girls arrived shortly afterwards and they were released to walk their Eva's into a connecting room which had previously been empty space.  
"How much random space does this place have?" Asuka asked looking around  
"We don't know exactly but the popular term used to describe it is a "fuck load"" James said with a laugh. They all walked into the room before the lights turned on. When they did come on row upon row of Eva sized weapons were placed neatly on racks.  
"Ok yeah this is the big secret weapon stash, the clamps on your back are designed to hold up to two close combat weapons so that you have space to carry a gun for the beginning of the battle." James said as he walked through the racks.  
"So what we just choose the weapons we want?" Asuka asked  
"Yeah, but please just choose one or two so that we can have them loaded before fights with minimum hassle." James said as he approached the end of the room. The other three spread out amongst the weapons as they searched for something suited to them.  
"What the hell is this?" Asuka asked as she held up a relatively short bar with a long single edged blade on each side.  
"It's a double Naginata." James said confused as he turned to look  
"It's not really long enough." Asuka said with an annoyed tilt of her head  
"Oh right that's so it fits, it extends." James told her.  
"How?" Asuka asked as she looked for a button.  
"The same way you make your Eva walk." James said with a chuckle as he turned and kept walking.  
"That doesn't make any…wait." Asuka said before thinking about it extending to its full length, the Naginata extended rapidly until it was slightly taller than Unit-02  
"Do they all do that?" Shinji asked  
"No only the ones that need it, those swords you're holding are full sized." James said  
"Ok good, I didn't want these getting longer for no reason." Shinji said with a laugh as he performed a few short practice swings.  
"What's this?" Rei asked as she held up a smooth pole ending in a sharp point.  
"Oh, that's a lance, be careful about extending that, its 80 metres tall at full extension." James said as Rei rolled the weapon in her hands.  
"Does it have to go to full extension?" Rei asked as her eyes widened at the thought of an 80 metre weapon.  
"No, any of the extendable weapons can extend as far as you want them to." James said before picking up a huge mace.  
"Hey Shinji, this is Gräuel." James said with a grin as he hefted the mace. Shinji stared wordlessly at the thick curved spike placed seemingly at random on the square head of the weapon.  
"Now I know why it's called abomination." Asuka said with a small laugh.  
"Damn straight, I won't be using it as much as you guys will be using yours, can't actually clamp it onto Mächtige Zuschlag." He said with a chuckle before placing it back onto its rack and moving to where the guns specially designed for Mächtige Zuschlag sat, he looked at them for a minute before deciding on Dreizack and Weltenbrechers.  
"Need any help?" Shinji asked.  
"No the ammo boxes are in the wall so that I can equip myself." James said as he turned around and fell against the wall before attaching the guns, standing up he pulled the ammo boxes with him.  
"Hey Ritsuko these are already loaded right?" James asked suddenly  
"Yeah they were loaded while you were on the plane." Ritsuko replied.  
"Good, any further intel on the Americans." James sighed before he began to walk to the elevators.  
"Not yet but we believe they don't know we have Asuka and Shinji back so you're going to stay down here for now." Misato said  
"Makes sense, going with that theory they'll probably attack from two directions to try and separate us." James said as he walked past the other three pilots.  
"Since you seem to know about this James, any advice on what guns to use?" Shinji asked  
"Well that changes on the situation and since we don't know what the situation is right now I'd recommend a pallet rifle." James said with a wave of Dreizack toward the rack filled with pallet rifles.  
"That makes sense." Shinji replied before grabbing one.  
"Hey Shinji throw me one." Asuka said, Shinji complied and Asuka caught it skilfully, Rei walked past them and picked up one of the heavy sniper rifles.  
"Always good to have a sniper, anyway everyone set, weapons clamped properly?" James asked leaning against the side of the entrance.  
"Yes." Rei said with a childlike bounce which looked extremely out of place when performed by a 40 metre killing machine with a sniper rifle.  
"Yeah." Shinji said, reaching over his shoulder to grasp the hilt of one of the swords.  
"I think so." Asuka said as she performed a slow circle trying to see her back to make sure the Naginata was set properly  
"Good, now…" James was interrupted by Misato.  
"The Americans have landed, 300 Eva in total and as far as we can tell they're splitting up." Misato said quickly  
"Evenly or are they concentrating on one side?" James asked as they all moved to the elevators quickly.  
"Approximately 200 on one side and 100 on the other." Misato said after a brief pause  
"Not surprised, they know Mächtige Zuschlag can do the most damage from a distance so they would be trying to overwhelm me with numbers." James said thoughtfully  
"So how are we going to do this?" Shinji asked  
"James and Rei will have to try and hold the 200 while Asuka and Shinji can take the 100." Misato said  
"No I have a better idea." James said suddenly  
"Oh you do?" Misato said somewhat unimpressed  
"Asuka, Shinji and Rei take the 200 while I take the 100." James said  
"Trying to be a hero?" Misato asked acidly  
"No, Rei and I couldn't take on 200, Assuming I can take out 100 then we still have a hundred more and Unit-00 isn't built as a front line fighter, but if there are three of them then Asuka and Shinji can use superior speed and strength to hold them back while Rei supports them with the sniper rifle." James said smugly.  
"So you're saying Asuka and Shinji can kill more than you?" Misato asked  
"Yes, because I'm slow they would rush me and overwhelm me before I could kill them all even if I didn't run out of ammo, Unit-01 and 02 are fast and nimble and will be able to break the charge before cleaning up in close combat." James said with a wink at Asuka through the video chat.  
"Ok I can accept that but how will you deal with the 100?" Misato asked  
"I can hold them back, I may need help in killing the last few but even if I don't kill them all I can thin them out enough so that I can hold them back with my size." James said with a purposeful flexing of Mächtige Zuschlag's arms.  
"…fine we'll go with yours just don't do anything stupid." Misato said after a few seconds.  
"I hadn't planned to." James said with a lazy salute in the general direction of the control room as the locks were released on the elevators.  
"Ok get them up there." Misato said, the elevators whined as they lifted the weight of the Eva's.

Rei took a deep breath as they waited for the American Eva's to arrive.  
"You ok Rei?" Shinji asked as he heard her over the link Misato had ordered stay open for the entire operation.  
"Yeah I'm just…a little nervous." Rei admitted with a blush.  
"It's ok so am I." Shinji said reassuringly as he shifted the pallet rifle in his hands  
"I'm not." Asuka said with a flick of her hair.  
"Well then you're the only one." Shinji said with an almost annoyed tone  
"James isn't nervous…are you?" Asuka asked in an attempt to salvage the conversation  
"Of course I am Asuka, its natural." James replied with a cheeky grin  
"Well…I guess there are a lot of them." Asuka said with a defeated slump  
"That reminds me, do you think they'll have real pilots?" Shinji asked  
"I wouldn't think so, finding 300 16 year olds willing to attack a country in a bio-mech would be difficult, I'm assuming they have a dummy plug system or something very similar." James said  
"I thought they would, just wasn't sure." Shinji said  
"Yeah." James said quietly.  
"They'll be there in a couple minutes so get ready." Misato told them. James gave his weapons a final check-up before walking into the middle of the short open space between Tokyo-3 and the hills surrounding it. He heard the low boom of a sniper rifle shot less than a second before the higher pitched sounds of pallet rifles echoed from the three links, James breathed deeply and concentrated on the hill in front of him. The first of the small American Eva jumped over the hill and was blown out of the air by a single bullet from Weltenbrechers, moments later the rest crested the hill and started sprinting down, James pulled both of the triggers in his plug and Dreizack and Weltenbrechers exploded, the constant vibration from Dreizack and the steady thumping of Weltenbrechers firing soothed James as the American Eva's were torn apart. James felt the vibration stop and a quick look down at his HUD confirmed that it was out of ammo.  
"Fuck." James said as he released the clamps and dropped Dreizack, he kept Weltenbrechers firing but the American Eva's were gaining ground, one of them managed to circle around and leap at him from the side, James staggered as the Eva hit him, grabbing an arm of the Eva he threw it to the ground before crushing it's head with his foot, he looked up to see three Eva's charging at him he lifted Weltenbrechers and managed to shoot one through the torso before the other two hit him hard. James released the clamps on Weltenbrechers and rolled with the hit to avoid falling on the ammo box, landing hard James grunted in pain before swinging his right arm to dislodge the Eva clinging to it, the Eva let go long enough for James to grab the one holding onto his head, throwing it away he turned and clothes lined the other one before sending his fist through its torso, James stood to fight the last one but it had already run off.  
"Huh apparently the Americans don't want to lose ALL their Eva's." James said  
"What do you mean?" Shinji asked  
"Oh the last one on my side ran away… since you're talking I'm assuming you won." James said with a grin.  
"Yeah, they ran away on our side to, just more than one of them." Rei said with a short sigh  
"I guess the three of you are scarier than I am then." James said with a chuckle as he straightened properly  
"Damn straight." Asuka said triumphantly. James was about to reply when Ritsuko interrupted him.  
"Are there any mainly intact Eva's left?" She asked  
"Not really, not on our side anyway." Shinji said with a quick look around him at the carnage around him.  
"I might have a couple, there's one only missing its head but I'll take a look further up the hill." James said as he began to walk up the hill.  
"Oh yeah here's one that only got one shot from Dreizack through the head." James said as he rolled the Eva onto its back with his foot.  
"That'll do fine, thank you James." Ritsuko said.  
"No problem." James said as he took a couple steps to look over the hill curiously.  
"Uhh, exactly how many ran away from you guys?" James asked quickly still looking over the hill  
"Probably about 20 or 30 why?" Shinji asked  
"Because they're all here." James said flatly  
"Are they attacking?" Misato asked quickly  
"Well yeah, and I have no weapons." James said with a roll of his eyes  
"Asuka, Shinji get over there and help him." Misato ordered quickly  
"They won't get here in time." James said slowly as he looked around uselessly  
"Well then find a way to hold them back." Misato said. James looked down and saw a small valley with steep hills on either side, the enemy would either have to run through it or waste several minutes climbing the hills, James thumped down and positioned himself at the exit. The Eva's arrived at the other end of the valley a few seconds later and didn't slow down at all.  
"Fuck…fuck…fuck..fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck." James muttered as the Eva's sprinted towards him, James leant over and spread his arms out to cover the entire valley still swearing repeatedly, the enemy Eva's hit him as a wave and James grunted as he felt one of the load enhancers on Mächtige Zuschlag's leg snap, growling he leant over further and dug his feet deeper into the ground as he felt Mächtige Zuschlag sliding backwards.  
"Are you ok James?" Misato asked concernedly  
"Yeah just tell them to hurry the fuck up." James said from between clenched teeth moments before he felt something hit his back before a bright red Eva landed in the midst of the other Eva's, swinging her Naginata in wide sweeps Asuka sliced through several Eva's before Shinji arrived to join in, Rei arrived last to plunge her lance under Mächtige Zuschlag's arm. The last of the Eva's died quickly, and James straightened up slowly.  
"Next time one of you guys can catch them." James said somewhat dazed as he began to walk back towards Tokyo-3  
"Was it really that bad?" Shinji asked with a laugh at Mächtige Zuschlag's decidedly non-smooth walking  
"Well let's put it this way, I could carry Dreizack and Weltenbrechers with full ammo and jump off this hill and the load enhancers wouldn't snap…that made one of my load enhancers snap." James said as he bent down slowly to pick up the least damaged Eva.  
"Well if that's the case I don't think any of us would have stood a chance catching them." Asuka said  
"To be honest I didn't think it would work." James said with a chuckle as he slowly recovered from the shock  
"Then why did you do it?" Asuka asked with a questioning tilt of her head  
"What else could I do?" James asked with a lazy grin as he walked down the hill.  
"Come up with a better plan?" Rei said cheekily.  
"Shh, next time I will…oh yeah if you guys can carry my guns it'll make it easier on the clean-up." James said as he walked past the empty boxes  
"Ok but wouldn't they be light enough to be transported fairly easily?" Shinji asked as he picked up one of the ammo boxes with one hand.  
"Well yeah but you still need a big truck to fit that onto." James said as he shoved the American Eva into the elevator that had just arrived  
"Good point, hey Asuka can you put the actual gun part on top of this?" Shinji asked. Asuka picked up Dreizack and placed it on top before moving to do the same for Rei.

James and Shinji were getting changed into their normal clothes when Shinji asked a question that had been bothering him.  
"Hey James, where am I going to live?" He asked  
"I haven't actually thought about that but I guess you can come live with the rest of us." James said as he straightened from tying his shoelaces.  
"The rest of us?" Shinji asked curiously  
"Oh me Asuka and Rei, Misato moved after she got promoted and I decided to stay." James said as he grabbed his shirt  
"I think I can handle that." Shinji said with a smile.  
"Yeah, you'll have to share with me again, Rei is in Asuka's old room and Asuka is in Misato's so that only leaves mine." James said as he sat down to wait for Shinji.  
"That's fine, not like you take up much space." Shinji said with a laugh  
"Well I've spread out a bit but there is still a lot of empty space yeah." James said as Shinji finished up. They both stood up and walked towards the door when James stopped suddenly.  
"What's wrong?" Shinji asked confused  
"You…you're back…and you can cook and, and, and food." James said with a look of pure joy in his eyes. Shinji laughed before replying  
"I heard Asuka has learnt her way around a kitchen."  
"Well yeah but she can't cook every day." James said as they left the room. They met up with the girls before walking to the entrance of NERV to get a lift home.

Shinji walked in and looked around before speaking.  
"This isn't actually a bad place now that it's not messy." He said with a grin  
"Yeah I was surprised to." James said returning the grin. Shinji walked to James' room and dumped his bag before heading to the shower.  
"I 'm sorry but today has tired me out so I'm going to bed early." He said  
"It's cool man I'll try not to wake you." James said from the couch. Rei walked into the room slowly a sad look on her face.  
"What's wrong?" James asked sitting up straight as she sat next to him on the couch.  
"They forgot about me again." She said sadly, James sighed and pulled her into a hug.  
"It's ok Rei, they'll get it right eventually, and Asuka and Shinji don't forget you do they?" James asked her  
"No." Rei said as she buried her head into his shoulder  
"Well then it doesn't matter about everyone else, your friends remember you." James said before lifting her onto his lap so he could hug her more comfortably.  
"Thank you James." Rei said as she closed her eyes and relaxed into his hug.  
"It's ok, what are big brothers for if not making their little sisters feel better." James said with a smile  
"Yeah." Rei said softly as she quickly fell asleep. James held her until he was tired enough to go to sleep, standing up carefully he put Rei to bed before creeping quietly into his room.

* * *

And for anyone who's been reading from the beginning, yes I did change what Gräuel actually is, a friend convinced me to make it a battleaxe but I just couldn't see it so I changed it to the worlds biggest mace, sorry if that doesn't seem as cool to any of you.


	21. Chapter 21

So yeah sorry about my...slow...delayed...subtle complete lack of updates, haven't been able to sit and write for a couple hours like when I first started. I did write about 3000 words of this in one sitting but the previous 1000 took a while but yeah anyway hope this makes up for it.

* * *

James stretched luxuriously as he woke up slowly, rolling out of bed he heard voices coming from the kitchen so he made his way there. He walked in scratching his scars lazily and yawning.  
"Good morning James." Shinji said with an amused smile  
"Yeah morning." James said as he flopped into his seat heavily. He smiled at Rei as she placed a plate of toast in front of him, he ate the first piece before looking up to ask Shinji something, he stopped as he noticed Rei in her school uniform  
"What day is it today?" He asked slowly, his head still poised above his plate.  
"Monday why?" Asuka asked confused  
"Fuck…I had an assignment due today." James said as he let his head hit the table, he looked up as he heard paper rustling to see Rei placing several sheets in front of him.  
"That will be the usual fee." She said with a cheeky smile.  
"Thank you Rei." James said as he stood up  
"The usual fee?" Shinji asked with a laugh  
"Yeah after the third time Rei stopped doing my homework for free." James said as he grabbed his last piece of toast and began to walk to his room.  
"Why do you even do his homework for him?" Asuka asked turning back to Rei  
"Well now I do it for money but I started because he's actually busier than he pretends to be." Rei said with a soft smile.  
"Really?" Asuka asked unconvinced  
"Well he was busy, now that he's focusing on being a pilot again he'll have more free time." Rei said as she moved to clear the plates away.  
"Busy with what?" Shinji asked as he helped Rei pick up the plates.  
"Hunting SEELE, designing and supervising the creation of our new weapons, training NERV security staff, organising better hand held weapons for said security staff and working out a better defensive strategy because that last one sucked." James said as he walked in with his wallet in his hands.  
"Yeah that." Rei said with a smile as she stuck her hand out.  
"Yeah yeah I'm getting there." James said as he opened his wallet and pulled out a few notes.  
"That's quite a fee." Shinji said as he followed the exchange with wide eyes.  
"Well Rei gets me better grades than I normally would and it's not like I have anything better to spend my money on so I don't mind." James said as he stuffed his wallet into his pocket and picked up the paper that Rei had left on the table.  
"Yeah this is at least an A." James said as he leafed through the pages. Rei smiled as she prepared two boxed lunches.  
"So what's happening to us?" Shinji asked as he leant back in his chair, both Rei and James stopped dead.  
"Umm… shit… give me a second." James said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and quickly dialled in a number.  
"Hey Misato…" James said as he walked out the kitchen with the phone to his ear  
"He seems to be on his phone a lot." Asuka remarked  
"Yeah he was on it more before all of this, I used to forget that he was only 16 like us." Rei said with a fond smile.  
"Seriously? You forgot that that giant eight year old was 16?" Asuka asked with a dubious expression as a she leant against the counter.  
"Not for long, when he was done working he'd always grin at me or run up and give me a hug and that always reminded me." Rei said with a laugh.  
"He does seem to like giving you hugs." Shinji said with a cheeky smile Rei didn't understand.  
"Well yeah he'll give almost any girl a hug if they ask." Rei said with a confused tilt of her head.  
"What about boys?" Shinji asked with a chuckle  
"I don't know…no guy has ever asked him." Rei replied with a cheeky smile.  
"No guy has ever asked me what?" James said as he walked back into the kitchen.  
"James, will you give me a hug?" Shinji asked with a straight face, James looked at him silently for a few seconds before grinning and holding his arms up.  
"Come here Shinji." James said, Shinji laughed before standing up and embracing James.  
"You too Asuka?" James asked as she and Rei watched in amusement. Asuka shrugged her shoulders and joined the hug  
"Come on Rei, mays as well have a group hug." Shinji said with another laugh, Rei joined him in laughing before running up and wrapping her arms around the three of them. Once they disentangled James spoke up  
"Ok you guys are enrolled but given yesterdays…events Misato forgot to give you your uniforms so she's coming over now to drop them off and then she'll give us a lift to school." He said with a smile.  
"So four lunches then." Rei said as she turned back to the kitchen bench  
"Yeah but I'll help." James said with a step forward  
"No you won't." Rei said with a glare  
"Why not?" James asked  
"Because you make the worst sandwich I have ever seen." Rei shot over her shoulder with a teasing grin.  
"I…I…shh." James said before grinning back and raising his hands in defeat.  
"I'll help if you want." Shinji said from back on his chair.  
"Yes please, if you can make the sandwiches I'll do everything else." Rei said with a smile. Shinji smiled back as he stood up and joined Rei at the bench. James stood in the middle of the room awkwardly for a few seconds before realising he hadn't had a shower or gotten dressed yet.

James had just finished putting his shoes on when the doorbell rang, grabbing his shirt from where it hung on the rack he walked quickly to the door. Opening it he found Misato with two uniforms hanging from coat hangers in her hands.  
"Good morning." Misato said cheerily.  
"Morning." James replied with a small smile as he took the coat hangers from her hands and stepped back to let her in.  
"Hey Misato." Shinji said as he poked his head around the kitchen doorway.  
"Good morning Shinji, and Rei." Misato said with a smile as she walked into the kitchen  
"Good morning." Rei replied before turning back to her preparation.  
"These uniforms should fit but if they don't we can swap them out." Misato said as James chucked Shinji his uniform.  
"This looks about right." Shinji said  
"Well then go put it on, I want to see what you look like." Misato said with an impatient shooing gesture. Shinji chuckled and walked to his and James' room to get changed.  
"So where's Asuka?" Misato asked curious  
"She went to have a shower." Rei said as she finished whatever she was doing, James could never figure out how she did what she did but it tasted good and that was all he cared about.  
"Well I guess we have time." Misato said as she took a seat. An uncomfortable silence settled on them until Shinji returned  
"You know Shinji, the shirt is part of the uniform." Misato said with a nevertheless appreciative look at his toned torso  
"Yeah I thought me and James could have a posing contest." Shinji said with a grin  
"Seriously? You think that can beat this?" James said before curling his arms around and tensing his muscles  
"Ok yeah it was a flawed plan." Shinji said in defeat. James chuckled as Shinji put his shirt on.

Another 15 minutes passed before Asuka walked into the kitchen towelling her hair.  
"Oh good morning Misato." Asuka said as she noticed the purple haired woman.  
"Good morning Asuka, your uniform is on that coat hanger." Misato said with a smile. Asuka took it slowly grimacing slightly at the unflattering cut.  
"I hate school uniforms." She said eventually  
"So does everyone, now hurry up or you'll make everyone late." Misato said with a mock glare  
"James isn't ready yet either." Asuka shot back, James grinned disarmingly as everyone turned to glare at him.  
"Well you see I was planning on giving all the girls a treat and…" He was interrupted by a ladle Rei threw at his head, as he ducked it he overbalanced his chair and ended up with his face on the floor with everyone laughing at him. Getting up slowly he rubbed his nose.  
"You win this time." He said pointing at Rei before walking to his room, Rei stuck her tongue out at his back.

Thanks to Misato driving them they arrived at school with some time left before it started.  
"Been a long time since I've been at school." Shinji said as he surveyed the main building.  
"I missed eight years and I'm managing so you should be fine." James said with a grin  
"Hey James and…SHINJI!?" Touji yelled as he and Kensuke ran up.  
"Hey Touji, Kensuke." Shinji said with a happy grin.  
"We thought you were back, we saw your Eva as we were heading into the shelter but we didn't know for sure if you were back." Kensuke said excitedly.  
"Yeah I only got back yesterday otherwise I definitely would have come and seen you guys." Shinji said as they all began walking towards the school building.  
"So what did you guys fight? We saw the last of them being cleared away when we were finally let out but we couldn't see any details or anything." Touji said trying in vain to hide the curiosity in his voice.  
"Oh they were…" Shinji was interrupted by James  
"We're not allowed to tell you anything yet." He said quickly  
"Oh come on not even for an exclusive in the school paper?" Kensuke pushed as he pulled out his camera and started taking pictures.  
"No." James said shortly.  
"Fine, but its good your back Shinji you need to tell us all about what you were doing while we died of boredom at school." Kensuke was disappointed at James' silence but was excited again but the end of his sentence. James dropped back slightly to give the three old friends some room to talk.  
"Just like they used to be." Asuka said with a toss of her hair.  
"Well what did you expect, they haven't gotten a reason to change yet." James said with a grin  
"Think they'd at least be more mature." Asuka said  
"They haven't seen Shinji for two years, just wait till Hikari see's you…Oh yeah her and Touji are finally together." James said  
"Took their time doing it though, it's only been eight months." Rei chipped in with a smile.  
"It took them over a year." Asuka sighed.  
"Yeah well Touji…" James was interrupted by a surprised scream  
"ASUKA!?" Hikari yelled, she immediately flushed in embarrassment as everyone looked at her, walking quickly she was soon in front of Asuka.  
"Where have you been? Why didn't you tell me you were back? When did you get back? Where you part of the fighting yesterday?" These and other questions tumbled from her lips.  
"Wait, wait, wait slow down." Asuka said holding up her hands. Hikari flushed again but smiled  
"I'm glad your back." She said after a while.  
"I haven't quite decided but I think I'm glad to be back." Asuka said before marching off with Hikari in tow.  
"I wonder what will happen when she meets the Duchess." Rei said out loud. James burst out laughing  
"I don't care when it is but if you're there when it happens text me because I need to see that." He said once he'd controlled himself.  
"Yeah I will…if I remember." Rei said with a cheeky grin.  
"You better remember." James said with a glare.  
"What can you do to make me remember?" Rei asked with an ultra-innocent look on her face.  
"Well you know I was planning on buying you that toy penguin you said reminded you of Pen-Pen but if you forget to message me I think I'll be too annoyed to walk to the shopping centre." James replied with an evil grin  
"Grr fine I'll message you if it happens." Rei said  
"I knew I could make you see sense." James said with a grin. Rei punched him in the arm before walking off. James chuckled before following her.

James sighed in relief as they walked out to lunch.  
"So what do you guys do during lunch now?" Shinji asked as they headed off.  
"These two brutes play basketball and show off for the girls." Kensuke said with a frown.  
"Hey we offered to let you play." James said  
"Yeah yeah." Kensuke said with a wave of his hand  
"I didn't know you played basketball James." Shinji said  
"Yeah only started last year, I was bored so decided to join in and I've been playing since then." James said with a grin.  
"You any good?" Shinji asked curious  
"Pfft no, everyone else has more skill than me and they're all faster." James said  
"He's a good defender." Touji said with a laugh.  
"Only because everyone is too scared to come near me." James said joining in the laugh. Shinji chuckled slightly as they approached the basketball courts. James and Touji ran to the nearby change rooms while Shinji and Kensuke made themselves comfortable and opened their lunches.  
"So Shinji you never got to finish your story." Kensuke said as they started eating. Shinji nodded and began to talk as Touji and James came running back and dumped their bags next to the two of them before running off to join the guys already waiting.

Shinji had just finished his story when Hikari, Asuka and Rei joined them. Shinji smiled at Asuka as they sat down and opened their own lunches.  
"James didn't eat his lunch again did he?" Rei asked looking at James' closed bag.  
"No he ran off to play right away." Shinji replied.  
"So did Touji by the looks of things." Hikari said with a sigh.  
"Oh yeah I heard you and Touji are officially dating now." Shinji said with a grin  
"Yeah, took him long enough to confess but James and Kensuke eventually got him to." Hikari said with a shy smile.  
"Is he really that shy?" Asuka asked with a laugh  
"Yeah but it's not like I had the courage to confess either." Hikari said lifting her head  
"Well he still should have done it earlier… and he calls himself a man." Asuka said with her arms crossed over her chest. They all laughed before turning to look at the subject of their conversation. Touji jumped and cocked his arm back before slamming the ball through the hoop. His team cheers where drowned out by the small army of girls on the other side of the courts.  
"Are there really that many female basketball fans at this school?" Shinji asked  
"They don't care about basketball, just the guys playing it." Hikari said glaring darkly at the girls across the court.  
"And given that look I'm assuming more than one are interested in Touji specifically?" Shinji asked with a sympathetic grimace.  
"Yeah but he's good, he ignores them." Hikari said with a soft smile as she returned to looking at her boyfriend.  
"Well that's good." Asuka said moments before another cheer rose from the crowd of fans, the group looked up to see James throwing his shirt to the side of the court.  
"Ughh shameless." Asuka grimaced as James purposefully stretched and flexed his muscles.  
"In his defence he doesn't really have anything to be ashamed about." Kensuke said. All three girls looked at him flatly until he was literally squirming. Kensuke's torture was interrupted by a commotion on the court, they looked up to see one of the boys limping off curt supported by two others. James and Touji walked to their group.  
"Why am I not surprised someone got hurt." Asuka said  
"Well it's actually been awhile, he just landed badly after a lay-up." James said as he delved into his bag for his lunch.  
"You finished playing now?" Shinji asked  
"Yeah normally we have a couple extra people who are willing to play but we have quite a few people sick right now." Touji said from his position next to Hikari. James looked up from his lunch suddenly, swallowing quickly he turned to Shinji  
"Hey Shinji you want to play? You have the build for it." He asked  
"I don't know I've never played before." Shinji said awkwardly  
"Nah man it's easy, I mean if I can play then you can pick it up before the end of lunch." James said before continuing to shovel food into his mouth.  
"Ok, I have nothing better to do." Shinji said before getting up and heading off to get changed.

Once Shinji had returned and been given a very brief and entirely unhelpful explanation of the rules by James they began to play. After a while Shinji ended up face to face with James who grinned at him before feinting to the right cause Shinji to step too far, instead of taking advantage James waited for Shinji to get back into position before performing several tricks.  
"Come on James it's his first time cut him some slack." Touji yelled  
"Shut up everyone else is too good so I can't do this successfully." James yelled back before spinning around Shinji and running up for a dunk. Once he'd landed on the ground again he clapped Shinji on the shoulder.  
"You're pretty good, much better than I was when I first started." He said with a grin. Shinji grinned back before Asuka walked up to them.  
"Lunch is almost finished so you might want to hurry up and get changed." She said. James and Shinji headed off with the rest of the players while the fans wandered away unhappily.  
"Looks like Shinji has some admirers." Hikari said acidly as she joined Asuka on the court.  
"Yeah." Asuka said darkly before turning and walking away.

"Hey Shinji you want to hang out?" Kensuke asked as the eight of them left school.  
"Yeah ok, as long as I'm not need for anything." Shinji said with a smile  
"Nah nothing today, I'm going to NERV but the rest of you can do whatever you want." James said  
"Well if that's the case, Hikari do you want to go shopping?" Asuka asked  
"Yes." Hikari said with a smile. They all kept walking until they split into different directions.  
"Don't you want to go with Asuka and Hikari?" James asked Rei as they kept walking.  
"I was thinking about it but I thought I'd give them some time to reconnect." Rei said with a smile.  
"And you just want to spend time with me." James said with a grin  
"Oh yeah of course I want to spend time with my show off older brother." Rei said  
"Hey I do it for the other guys, most of them have girlfriends so if I show off they don't get stared at as much which means their girlfriends are less jealous." James said defensively.  
"Mmhmm and you like the attention." Rei said with a teasing smile  
"Maybe just a little bit." James said with a grin. Rei shook her head and punched him in the arm again, James shoved her head in retaliation before bolting down the street leaving Rei to chase him. He stopped panting when he reached the train station only to have Rei leap up and punch his arm hard. James retaliated by putting his hand on her head and pushing her out of arm's length. Rei glared at him from under his arm before grinning and spinning out of his grip to give him a hug. James hugged her back but refused to let her go when the train arrived, walking her backwards he held her like that until they walked into NERV to amused looks from the security staff.

James and Rei walked into the control room as Mächtige Zuschlag was being lowered onto it's front.  
"Hey Ritsuko." James said as they approached  
"Hello James, you're just in time." Ritsuko said barely looking up from the screen in front of her.  
"Yeah well I trust you but I have nothing better to do." James said as he walked over to the view screen.  
"Yes well this is taking a big chunk out of our Eva budget so try not break another one." Misato said as she walked in.  
"Hello to you to, and I didn't exactly plan to catch a wave of Eva's." James said  
"Hello James, Rei, and I know but they are ridiculously expensive for a metal pole." Misato said as she joined James.  
"But it's not just a metal pole, don't ask me what it is but I know it's actually quite complicated." James said with a grin.  
"Well it doesn't matter we know their tactics now so we can be more prepared for the next time they decide to waste resources." Misato said  
"Actually I was meaning to talk to you about that." Ritsuko said as she straightened up.  
"There's always something." Misato said with a sigh  
"Yes there is, but what I wanted to talk to you about is the coding for the American dummy plugs, it's complicated and encrypted but the Magi discovered incomplete and missing segments of code." Ritsuko said pointing to another screen filled with letters and numbers.  
"And?" James asked after a few awkward seconds.  
"The coding is incomplete, which means they are probably updating it right now using what they learned from yesterday's battle and I can't confirm but they may even be able to code the Eva's to use simple weapons like prog knives and swords." Ritsuko said calmly.  
"Well then… we'll just have to plan better." James said brightly  
"Yeah." Misato said rubbing her temples.  
"Don't worry, computers can never match up to real pilots." James said with a smile.  
"Yeah I know…Hey you two want a lift home? I could really use a good home cooked meal today." Misato asked with a small smile.  
"Still can't feed yourself, but yes thank you I know I would like a ride." James said with a shake of his head  
"I'd like a lift too." Rei chimed in with a happy smile.  
"Then it's settled, Ritsuko you want to join us?" Misato asked regaining her good mood.  
"No I want to keep working on this dummy plug." Ritsuko said after several seconds of though.  
"Don't overwork yourself again." Misato said before walking out with James and Rei.

Misato slid further into the sofa with a beer in her hand.  
"Ahh I needed this." She said taking another drink  
"Being Vice-Commander tiring you out huh?" James asked with a grin.  
"Shut up you kids have it easy, which reminds me how did Shinji and Asuka's first day of school go?" Misato asked  
"Good, both of them connected with their old friends and I might have gotten Shinji into playing basketball which will lengthen his friends list." James said with a self-satisfied smile.  
"What about Asuka?" Misato asked  
"She's already popular among the girls of our class and everyone will know who she is by tomorrow." Rei answered  
"She definitely lets people know she's there, but that's good they both seem much more mature." Misato said.  
"Yeah, meanwhile Rei and I have probably become less mature." James said with a massive grin. Misato just sighed as Rei tackled him onto the ground.  
"So about that home cooked meal I was looking forward to?" Misato asked casually, Rei stopped trying to trap James and looked up with an embarrassed smile.  
"To be fair, we do have to wait for Shinji and Asuka to get home." James said from his position underneath Rei's elbow. Misato had just nodded in sad acceptance when Shinji walked in closely followed by Asuka.  
"Well then." Misato said brightly, Rei hung her head before hitting James lightly as she stood up.

James pushed Misato into the taxi and paid the driver in advance. As they drove off Shinji walked to his side.  
"So she still drinks huh." He sounded disappointed  
"Yeah little bit but not nearly as much as she used to, this is probably the first time she's been drunk in the last month or two." James said  
"That's good." Shinji said with a relieved sigh  
"Yeah I think since we killed the Angels and we weren't fighting to save the human race she's gotten a lot better, a lot less to stress about, she's actually trying to fix her problems now." James said as they walked back inside.  
"Well that was a…stressful time." Shinji said with a grimace  
"Yeah… anyway I'm tired, goodnight Shinji." James said before heading to his and Shinji's room and spending approximately 15 seconds with his head on his pillow before he was snoring.


End file.
